Police contact with man before his death - Northamptonshire Police, September 2019

On 22 September 2019, ambulance staff called Northamptonshire Police to assist in transporting a man that they were treating at an approved premise to hospital. The man was believed to have taken an overdose of drugs and had been found unresponsive. He was reported by ambulance staff as lacking capacity and being resistant to going to hospital. He had also been aggressive after receiving an opiate-reversal drug.

Northamptonshire Police officers attended and handcuffed the man to the rear. They then attempted to assist him to exit the building, but he appeared unable to walk and was placed on to the floor, where he went into cardiac arrest.

Police removed handcuffs and assisted the ambulance staff in administering CPR.
Police helped to remove the man from the building and he was transported to hospital for treatment, but died on 26 September.

We obtained accounts from the police officers who attended and from ambulance staff who were on scene. We obtained and reviewed body-worn video footage from officers’ cameras. The circumstances were then reviewed in light of legislation, guidance, policy and the results of pathological tests, which had been carried out.

Our investigation concluded in March 2020. We waited for all externa proceedings to finish before publishing our findings.

During the investigation, there was no indication any police officer had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence. The use of force upon the man was not considered causative of his cardiac arrest and was considered necessary, proportionate and reasonable in light of information relayed by ambulance staff and how the man had presented on the day in question.

An inquest held in July 2023 concluded his cause of death was, as the pathologist had concluded, a hypoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest, aspiration pneumonia and the use of heroin and cocaine. They recorded that the 999 call was incorrectly categorised and that ambulance staff did not appreciate the seriousness of the man's situation, making a lack of monitoring by ambulance staff a contribution to his death. The jury concluded that this was a drug-related death.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system, and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. 

In this case, the investigation has not identified any learning.