Complaints about detention - Devon and Cornwall Police, August 2017

At 12.07pm on 1 August 2017, the ambulance service contacted Devon and Cornwall Police to request assistance with a violent female patient.

Officers arrived and subsequently arrested the woman on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. She was taken to Torquay custody suite, where her detention was authorised. She was strip searched, provided with an anti-harm suit, and monitored on CCTV.

While in the cell, the woman struck her head against the wall and put the anti-harm shorts over her head before apparently losing consciousness. She was put under close proximity observation, and later transferred to Torquay hospital following a further period of apparent unconsciousness.

Her husband subsequently complained that she should have been taken to hospital rather than to police custody, and that he was not told that she had lost consciousness while in custody.

Our investigators obtained accounts from a number of police and non-police witnesses, reviewed evidence, including the custody record and custody CCTV footage, and considered relevant local and national policies and procedures.

Evidence indicated that, when she arrived in custody, the woman was alert, aware of her surroundings, able to converse, and able (albeit unwilling) to walk. There was no evidence to suggest that she was concussed or had any visible head injury. The paramedics did not consider that she was intoxicated to a level to require clinical treatment. The healthcare practitioner who saw her did not raise any concerns.

Evidence also indicated that the officer who was observing the woman while in her cell on CCTV had spent about an hour and a half restraining the woman and attempting to reason with her when she had been aggressive and challenging throughout the whole time. The officer explained that she had not seen the woman hit her head in the cell on the CCTV and thought the woman had been attempting to get dressed when she put the shorts over her head.

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.

After reviewing our report the force agreed. They also advised that they would take learning from this case to ensure that officers involved in a prolonged restraint situation and are fatigued are given suitable breaks away from monitoring detainees in their cells to regain focus and energy. We completed our investigation in July 2018 but waited until associated external proceedings had completed before publishing the outcomes.