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An investigation into complaints made about the treatment of a man with epilepsy - South Wales Police,

Published 03 Jun 2022
Investigation

On 7 March 2020, a 19-year-old man and his family were visiting relatives in South Wales. The young man had severe epilepsy and psychosis and had recently been released from a specialist epilepsy hospital. During the family visit, he experienced a psychotic episode which led him to become distressed and aggressive towards his father. The man’s mother phoned for the police to attend, to take him to a place of safety. 

Two police officers arrested the man for assaulting his father. They detained him using manual restraint, incapacitant spray and two sets of handcuffs. Other officers arrived at the scene to take witness statements from the man’s parents. The man’s parents provided the man’s prescribed epilepsy medication, which was taken to custody by one of the arresting officers. The man’s parents stated that they told officers that their son had epilepsy and learning disabilities and would need to take his medication. 

The man was taken to custody. He was assessed by a custody nurse, who recommended that he receive a mental health assessment. His parents stated that they telephoned the custody unit and asked the custody staff whether the man had been given his epilepsy medication but were told he had not been given the medication. They then attended the custody unit in person. The man was assessed by a different custody nurse and was provided with his medication.  He was then taken to a local hospital psychiatric unit for assessment, where he was pronounced not fit to be detained. The charges of assault on his father were later dropped by the police. 

The man’s mother wrote a letter of complaint to South Wales Police on 14 May 2020 and complained about the use of force by officers on her son at the scene of his arrest and the treatment of her son in police custody.   

During the investigation, investigators interviewed the complainants and obtained written responses from the police officers, custody sergeants, custody detention officers and healthcare professionals involved in the arrest and detention of the young man. Investigators also obtained policies and procedures regarding use of force, and detention and custody. 

We concluded the service provided by the police was unacceptable and that two officers should reflect on their handling of this matter through the Reflective Practice Review Process (RPRP). 

An officer reflecting on their actions is a formal process reflected in legislation. RPRP consists of a fact-finding stage and a discussion stage, followed by the production of a reflective review development report. The discussion must include:

  • a discussion of the practice requiring improvement and related circumstances that have been identified, and
  • the identification of key lessons to be learnt by the participating officer, line management or police force concerned, to address the matter and prevent a reoccurrence of the matter.

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 we identified the following areas for improvement. 

IOPC reference

2020/136458
Date of recommendation
Date response due

Recommendations

Tags
  • South Wales Police
  • Welfare and vulnerable people
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