A phone company is being urged to share phone data from missing 23-year-old Jack O’Sullivan’s phone to help with the investigation into his disappearance. Student Jack went missing after leaving a party on Saturday, March 2 in Bristol.
The last likely sighting of Jack was at 3.38am walking down the Bennett Way slip road in Hotwells, heading back towards the city centre. The last confirmed sighting was at 3.13am when he was walking through a car park onto a green area below the Plimsoll Swing Bridge by Cumberland Basin, said Avon and Somerset Police.
The Find Jack account posted on X, formerly Twitter, that EE won’t give up the phone data which includes data on where the phone was last tracked. The post cites legal grounds, but that EE has not disclosed the exact reasoning. EE were approached for comment.
Whilst the phone account belongs to Jack’s mum, Catherine, the social media account said that she is unable to access the information. Responding to a comment, the account said: “The problem is they are not sharing it and not saying why so that the legal team can challenge that decision.”
Avon and Somerset Police said that in August it received a request from Jack’s family requesting a copy of the phone data. The police cite the Home Office Communications Data Code of Practice and General Data Protection Regulation for being unable to comply with the request. The police added that the information has not taken the investigation any further to be able to locate Jack.
Assistant Chief Constable Joanne Hall said: “We have taken time to carefully consider the data request to see if there was any way we could agree to it in order for Jack’s family to get the answers they deserve following his disappearance. However, on this occasion, we are restricted by law and have been unable to identify a clear legal basis which would allow for the disclosure to take place.”
Catherine O’Sullivan, 52, said last week that she had lost confidence in the police to locate her son. She believed that Jack did not fall in the water and may have got into a car and dropped off somewhere, although there isn’t any firm evidence to support this.
Catherine has made a formal complaint to the IPCC which is currently ongoing. She said: “We wanted help but that was not what we got when we needed it most.”
The family has used a specialist dog search team and are waiting for more searches to be done. It includes searching an “area of interest” discovered on the A370.
She added: “We are in the hands of the search team when they can come next. We are also still trying to pursue phone data so we can see ourselves. After the mess with the CCTV we can not leave anything to chance and want to make sure everything is looked at properly.
“We are having to get a court order to get our hands on it and it is taking a while. We will just keep going and look into every possible sighting. We know police aren’t taking a lot of them seriously so we have to follow up ourselves.
“If there is anything significant our first port is to ring the police, but we just don’t feel assured they would respond the way we want them to. I hope they are still taking it with the seriousness it deserves but we have doubts.”
ACC Hall said: “Our staff and officers remain committed to doing everything we can to find Jack and we do not underestimate what a distressing time this has been, and continues to be, for his family. Throughout our investigation, we’ve been open-minded about what happened to Jack, considering different possible outcomes and scenarios following his last sighting.
“We have sought reviews from independent agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and experts such as oceanographers and independent Police Search Advisors. Sadly, despite the efforts carried out to date, we have been unable to find Jack and we fully appreciate the anguish this is having on his family and our thoughts remain with them during this hugely difficult time.”
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