Death following contact with police - North Yorkshire Police, February 2019

On 23 February 2019, officers from the North Yorkshire Police (NYP) county lines drug team saw a man who they believed was engaged in supplying controlled drugs. They stopped the man who immediately placed a package in his mouth which the officers believed contained drugs. The man started choking so the officers provided immediate first aid to dislodge the obstruction but were unsuccessful. Paramedics attended the scene and used medical equipment to extract a large packet, which appeared to contain drugs, from the man’s throat. The paramedics transported the man to hospital where he received medical treatment but later died.

We obtained accounts from all the police officers in which they detailed the extensive efforts they made to try and assist the man as he was choking. We also obtained accounts from witnesses and the paramedics and examined incident logs. We considered the officers’ actions alongside local and national police policies and found that they had complied with them as required.

Our investigation concluded there was no indication the officers may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. The officers were treated as witnesses and cooperated fully with this investigation. The evidence also suggested that all reasonable attempts were made to provide the man with medical assistance at the scene. The officers continued this work until paramedics arrived. Their actions in this regard demonstrated a commendable degree of diligence and professionalism.

We completed our investigation in September 2019 but waited until the inquest into the man’s death had concluded, in March 2021, before publishing its outcome. The inquest reached a conclusion of accidental death.

Throughout this investigation, we carefully considered whether there were any opportunities for learning or improvement. In this case, we did not identify any learning opportunities.