A call handler has been dismissed from Suffolk police after an investigation into the member of staff’s assessment of the risk posed to Dennis Nicholls during a call.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it has concluded its investigation into Suffolk police’s contact with 89-year-old Dennis Nicholls before his death in November 2014.

“The investigation examined the actions and decision making of a call handler who took an emergency call from Mr Nicholls, specifically looking at the call handler’s assessment of the risk posed to Mr Nicholls and the grading of the call,” an IPCC spokesman said.

“The investigation found evidence that the call handler had a case to answer for gross misconduct. The investigation report will be published in due course.”

A Suffolk police spokesman said: “The IPCC found a case to answer for gross misconduct for a member of police staff.

“As a result, they were the subject of a disciplinary hearing and were dismissed from the constabulary.”

The spokesman added that prior to the incident occurring, the constabulary had started to introduce an improved way of responding to calls for

assistance.

“As a result, call handlers are now using a new method of dealing with each call, based on a more rigorous assessment of the threat, risk and harm posed by each incident before deploying appropriate resources,” said the police spokesman.