Police watchdog probes death after custody transport escape near Welwyn North

A man in his 40s escaped from a contractor-run custody vehicle on the A1(M) hard shoulder after an altercation that injured two staff members, triggering a police watchdog referral and a coroner’s file.

Police said the man was being transported from Stevenage custody suite to court when he fled the stationary vehicle shortly after 9am on Thursday, May 28. Hertfordshire Police said the escape happened while the van was stopped on the motorway, raising immediate questions over the handling of a routine custody transfer that turned into a major multi-agency incident.

British Transport Police were called at about 9:40am BST to a casualty on the track near Welwyn North railway station. Formal identification had not yet taken place, but police said the man’s family had been informed. The circumstances link the motorway escape directly to the railway line near Welwyn North, where emergency services were later deployed.

Two staff members from the transport contractor were injured during the altercation inside the van and were taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment. Their injuries underline the force of the confrontation during a transfer that should have been tightly controlled, and they will likely be central to any review of the contractor’s procedures, staffing and restraint protocols.

Hertfordshire Police has referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, the watchdog that oversees police complaints in England and Wales and operates independently of the police. A file has also been prepared for the coroner, adding a formal layer of scrutiny to a case that now spans custody management, contractor accountability and the circumstances of the death.

National Rail said earlier services were delayed after the incident, and the line later reopened, although some delays and cancellations were still expected. The disruption was a visible sign of how a custody transport failure can quickly ripple beyond policing, affecting rail traffic, passengers and emergency response across the wider corridor.