Ed started at University College London in October 2021 hoping to become a barrister, and 48 hours later paramedics found him dead in a King's Cross hotel. A post-mortem found large amounts of alcohol, GHB and crystal meth. He spent his final hours with Matthew Butler and Ian Casimir, both in their 50s.

Butler and Casimir were initially arrested on suspicion of murder, but after nine days the Met decided neither had a case to answer. Miriam says the murder angle was dropped quickly and drugs were never looked at, with officers telling her gay men take 'trays of drugs' and anything can happen.

Swabs, nail and hair clippings taken from Ian Casimir on 19 October went missing. Three of 18 pieces of CCTV were lost within days and the rest from around January, and sheets, towels and plastic bags from the hotel room later vanished from Islington's locked evidence room. The CCTV mattered for showing how drunk Ed was.

Miriam says they only spoke to five students Ed had met in halls the day before, and reluctantly to his lifelong friend Sam after she pushed. They did not interview the hotel receptionist and only interviewed the hotel manager two years later, and ignored statements from six sixth-form teachers.

Ed died on 13 October but his body was not released until 22 December. The coroners needed police to confirm it was no longer a murder, the Met did not respond, and a second autopsy was done. It was only released after police visited and Ed's father broke down and begged them.

At the two-day inquest the two men gave very different stories, one describing heavy drug buying and the other saying he was there for a seance. A detective stated under oath that Ed was a drug dealer who slept with older men; the coroner said she would not use this and concluded he probably took the drugs himself.

The HMIC inspectors examined the case in 2022, found it very odd and started a Special Crime Review that identified 27 failings. The Met then confirmed evidence was lost, including from a locked evidence room, and that it did not know where the CCTV was, but gave no explanation of why.

She complained about homophobic comments and was told there were no lessons learned; the IOPC later upheld that this was not fair and proportionate. After the inquest, Hudgells solicitors compiled 16 pages of complaints, and in March 2026 the Met referred itself to the IOPC, which must now investigate, usually within a year.

Miriam describes a fun, easy, very academic child who read Northern Lights young, loved history, the Civilization games and the British Museum, got all As and won one of about 50 history places at UCL. Sam, his friend since infancy, calls him brutally honest, loyal and loving, and wanted to enter politics.

Miriam wants the case actually investigated, since in four years nobody has, and wants another constabulary to take it over because she has no faith in the Met. Sam hopes for a law named after Ed and says they will never give up, even if it takes another four years.