Man’s contact with police before his death - Greater Manchester Police, October 2017

On 25 October 2017 Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers arrested a man for breach of a court order. They searched the man and took him in a police van to Ashton custody suite, where he was further searched and booked into a custody cell. He remained in the cell for 35 minutes and was then transported to Tameside Magistrates Court and handed over to the custody of the Ministry of Justice.

Approximately 45 minutes after being taken to a court cell, the man collapsed. He was taken to Tameside Hospital, where he was found to have concealed drugs in his rectum. The man suffered a cardiac arrest and died the next day due to major organ failure.

Our investigators attended Tameside Court and Ashton custody suite and conducted a detailed examination. Over a dozen witness statements and accounts were taken from police officers and staff, members of the public and court staff. CCTV footage from a number of locations was analysed, along with radio and telephone transmissions, toxicology and drug analysis reports.

Evidence showed there was nothing to indicate the man was a cause for concern when he was placed in the police van: he did not appear intoxicated and was not aggressive. He had warning markers for violence, weapons and drugs, but not for concealing drugs. Although no officer sat with him during the journey, he was kept under constant watch. The evidence indicated that officers complied with GMP policy and procedure regarding the transportation of detainees while the man was in their care.

The search conducted on the man covered all areas of his body. The evidence indicated there was no justification to carry out a strip search.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence.

The investigation showed that one officer did not search the man’s socks or used a metal detector to search him, which was against GMP policy. Although there was no evidence that this failure had caused or contributed to the man’s death, we were of the opinion that the officer would benefit from being reminded of the GMP policy and of their obligations when carrying out a search of a detained person.

After reviewing our report GMP agreed, and advised that the officer would be made aware of our report and findings for information.

We concluded our investigation in June 2018 but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had concluded in spring 2019 before publishing its outcome. The jury returned a verdict of death by drugs through unintentional overdose.