Man becomes unwell in custody - Northumbria Police, May 2018

On 9 May 2018, two Northumbria Police officers arrested a man for failing to appear at court. The officers did not search or handcuff the man prior to placing him in the back of their police car. The man became agitated and subsequently swallowed tablets, which he said were two Valium. Officers called for assistance and a colleague then transported the man to Forth Banks custody suite in a police van. Eleven minutes after arriving in custody, officers were unable to rouse the man; custody staff provided first-aid treatment and called for an ambulance that then took him to hospital. The man subsequently recovered and was discharged from hospital.

During the investigation, our investigators reviewed CCTV footage from Forth Banks custody suite and accounts provided by the transporting officer, the custody officer and the nurse who treated the man in custody. The arresting and escorting officers were interviewed under the misconduct caution, provided a detailed account and answered questions put to them in interview.

Based on the explanations they provided, we found both officers’ decision to put the man into the police car without searching him or applying handcuffs to be reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.

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.

However, we were of the opinion that the performance of the two officers may be considered unsatisfactory for accepting the man’s explanation about the drugs he had ingested at face value, and for taking him to a custody suite, rather than directly to hospital, when he admitted to taking drugs. We completed our investigation in March 2019.

After reviewing our report Northumbria Police agreed. Both officers will receive management advice regarding their performance in this incident.