London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jan 15, 2026

Owami Davies: Police watchdog drops case now she is safe

Owami Davies: Police watchdog drops case now she is safe

The police watchdog will take no further action over the Owami Davies case after she was found safe and well following her disappearance.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had received a mandatory "death or serious injury" (DSI) referral from the Met Police.

It was made during the search for the 24-year-old's whereabouts and when it emerged Met officers had spoken with her the day she was reported missing.

However, the referral is now "invalid".

Student nurse Ms Davies left her family's home in Grays, Essex, on 4 July and was reported missing by relatives on 6 July, the day Met officers spoke to her in London.

Ms Davies had not yet been marked as a missing person on the police database, the Met said, with the force adding it had only later established the woman it had spoken to was Ms Davies as a result of their missing person investigation.

She was then last seen on CCTV footage in Derby Road in south London, near to West Croydon rail station, on 7 July at 00:03 BST, with police making public appeals to find her for the next seven weeks until she was found on Tuesday.

The IOPC said the DSI referral had been filed on 5 August, after the Met announced arrests had been made on suspicion of her murder.

An IOPC spokesperson said: "Given that Owami Davies has now been found safe, and we have not received information from the force that Ms Davies has suffered any serious injuries, the referral not does not meet the criteria for a DSI referral.

"We have advised the Met that it is invalid and therefore we will be taking no further action."


'Open and transparent'


Mandatory referrals are made whenever police contact with someone who is later killed or seriously injured may have directly or indirectly contributed to harm.

Met Police Cdr Paul Brogden said concerns around the full investigation would still be reviewed by the London and Essex police forces.

"Whilst this matter does not meet the criteria for an investigation by the IOPC, and this matter is not subject to any inquiry by our Directorate of Professional Standards, we know there have been concerns raised around the search for Owami," he said.

"Therefore we, alongside our colleagues in Essex Police, will be carrying out a review of all our actions from when Owami was first reported missing.

"We will carry out the review in an open and transparent manner to ensure we have acted correctly and to identify any ways to improve our response to finding other missing people."

Officers were said to be "ecstatic" to report Ms Davies had been found "safe and well" in Hampshire on Tuesday.


'Forever grateful'


A Twitter account linked to Ms Davies's family said they were "forever grateful".

"We the Davies family would like to express our deepest gratitude to every one of you, wherever you are, whoever you are.

"Thank you for all your well wishes, love hugs & thoughts. Together we searched far & beyond. We are forever grateful," one post said.

Despite the arrests of five people and numerous appeals for information, officers were struggling to locate Ms Davies as they trawled through 117 reported sightings.

The 118th report, made in response to a media appeal by a member of the public, at 10:30 BST on Tuesday was the one which led to her being found.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
×