Complaint that officers were discriminatory and excessive in their restraint of a man - Lancashire Constabulary, January 2019

At approximately 6.50pm on 5 January 2019, police officers from Lancashire Constabulary attended a man’s home after receiving a report from North West Ambulance Service that he was suffering a mental health crisis and had self-harmed. While there, police officers requested a mental health assessment for the man but could not be given an estimated time of arrival for an Approved Mental Health Practitioner (AMHP). Throughout the evening, officers had to restrain the man in order to prevent him from further self-harm.

At 9pm the man started to smash up the house and officers arrested him to prevent a breach of the peace. They took him to Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) under section 136 of the Mental Health Act. Police officers remained with the man at the accident and emergency department waiting for an AMHP. At 5.21am on 6 January 2019, officers were informed that the man was to be transported via ambulance to Chorley Hospital to be assessed under the Mental Health Act. Before the man’s transfer to Chorley, two police officers attended RLI and took over from the officer who had been with the man overnight. When the man saw the ambulance, he ran away from the officers who pursued and caught him, all three going to the floor in the process.

The man complained that when the two officers used force to restrain him, he suffered a fractured wrist and bruising. He has complained that ‘scare tactics’ were used by the officers and he was sworn at, called names and threated with further force. The man is transgender and has complained that the two officers deliberately called him ‘she’ in private and ‘he’ in public.

The complaints were referred to us and we began an independent investigation. We interviewed and took statements from the man, the two officers involved together with the officer who handed over the care of the man to the two officers. We also interviewed a health care professional at Chorley Hospital and took their statement.

At no point during the investigation was there any indication that any officer or member of staff behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence.

Due to insufficient evidence, only one of the complaints, relating to inappropriate language, was upheld. We did not uphold complaints relating to use of force, allegations of scare tactics and allegations of transphobic language.

We identified learning for the two officers concerned to highlight to the officers the man’s experience of his engagement with them and to encourage them to consider their actions in relation to aftercare, use of force, language and terminology, particularly when engaging with someone who is vulnerable and going through a difficult time or health crisis.