An Irvine woman who overdosed on drugs last Christmas should have been reported missing by officers before she was later found dead, the police watchdog has ruled.

The 38-year-old woman’s body was discovered at her home in Irvine – 12 hours after concerns were first raised about her.

The Police Investigation and Review Commissioner (Pirc) found that while cops initially carried out “appropriate inquiries” officers failed to create a missing person report when they were unable to locate her – which would have resulted in the woman’s home being searched.

Despite the failures the report added that it was unlikely the woman’s life would have been saved if she had been found on the first visit.

The woman, who the report states had a ‘chaotic lifestyle’, history of depression and drug use was last seen alive on Christmas Eve back in 2018 and tragically found dead by police on Friday, December 29 from the combined effects of prescribed and non-prescription drugs.

Police were first contacted by an addiction service worker on December 28 after the woman failed to collect her prescribed medication for four days or attend a social services appointment.

He said this was unusual behaviour for her and had gone to her house but got no response. 

A police control centre later sent officers to the property but they “could not establish if she was at home”.

Officers spoke to neighbours who said they had heard someone moving around the house the previous evening. Before going off duty, the officers made further inquiries before passing the case on to the next shift.

The following day, the case was assessed by a night shift police supervisor who sent more officers to the woman’s house.

After looking through a small gap in a window blind they saw her lying on the floor and forced their way in.

Paramedics were called and confirmed she was dead. The Pirc investigation found the call handler should have provided more background about the woman to officers, including her mental health issues. It also found the officers and their supervisor assumed noises reported inside the house were made by the woman and that she was alive at the time.

The report said: “A Communications Controller at Police Scotland’s Govan ACR did not provide the officers attending at the deceased’s home with all relevant information concerning the woman. The attending officers should have been told that the woman had recently been depressed, had failed to attend a scheduled meeting with Social Services on December 24 2018 and the woman’s actions were out of character.”

Following the tragedy police say they are reminding officers of procedures to follow in missing person cases, and reminding area control staff on the importance of providing officers with all vital information.

Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins said: “This was a tragic death and our thoughts remain with the woman’s family and friends.

“We are introducing a new approach to call assessment to ensure we can provide better service to the public.”