Woman becomes unconscious while in custody - Durham Constabulary, February 2019
On 25 April 2018, a Durham Constabulary police officer arrested a woman for failing to appear at court. The officer handcuffed her before transporting her to a custody suite. During her transportation, the officer saw the woman apparently trying to reach into her clothing. When she arrived at the custody suite, the custody officer authorised a strip search. During the booking-in procedure, the woman asked to use the toilet. While using the toilet, the woman produced a quantity of drugs within a plastic capsule that she apparently had concealed on her person. The woman became violent and, while in the process of being restrained, she assaulted two police officers. A number of officers were required to physically restrain her and apply handcuffs and limb restraints. While officers kept her under constant observation, the woman apparently suffered a period of unconsciousness and she was taken to hospital for medical treatment.
Approximately four hours later she returned to custody, where she remained until she was released the following day. Although the custody officer recorded the woman’s period of unconsciousness on her custody record, he did not mention it in an adverse incident form. As a result, Durham Constabulary Professional Standards Department was unaware of the incident and did not refer it to us until February 2019, following an internal review of ‘death or serious injury’ (DSI) incidents.
Durham Constabulary charged the woman for possession of controlled drugs and assaulting of two police officers. The officers involved compiled statements on the day of the incident in April 2018, which our investigators examined as part of our investigation. We obtained additional accounts from a number of officers and also examined documentation, including the woman’s custody record and risk assessment forms. All officers and staff co-operated with our investigation.
Our investigation established that the woman may have become unconscious as a result of her taking drugs and alcohol before her arrest. Our investigation found no evidence to suggest that Durham Constabulary either caused or contributed to her becoming unconscious.
During the investigation there was no indication that any police officer or member of police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. We completed our investigation in July 2019.
After reviewing our report, Durham Constabulary agreed with our findings and undertook to reinforce identified learning regarding ensuring that their custody staff understand the definition of a DSI incident and the importance of accurate and up-to-date record keeping.