Death of a man after a disturbance - Kent Police, June 2018

On 25 June 2018 at 6.18pm, Kent Police received a 999 call from a member of the public who reported a domestic disturbance at a flat in East Malling, Kent. At around 7.20pm, two officers arrived at the address.

At 6.55pm, Kent Police received the first of multiple calls relating to a further domestic disturbance at an address nearby in Larkspur Close. The caller reported a man had entered the home and was smashing windows and doors, and also claimed he was intoxicated.

Several people were in the property, including two pregnant women, children and an elderly woman. During the calls, it was reported the man assaulted another man in the flat, who was subsequently restraining him. At approximately 7.45pm, Kent Police and the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) arrived.

The man was taken to Maidstone Hospital, where he later died. Another man was initially arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. However, following the death of the man who entered the flat, the second man was further arrested on suspicion of murder. After a Kent Police investigation, both charges were later dropped.

We conducted an independent investigation as is usual when a person dies following police contact. As part of the investigation, we also considered seven complaints raised by the family of the two men. We took statements from officers who were treated as witnesses throughout and examined evidence including body worn video.

Six of the complaints were not upheld, with a seventh, relating to minor damage to an item within the property, being partially upheld but also deemed to have been resolved by Kent Police.

At no stage during the investigation were any matters of conduct identified against any police officer or member of staff serving with Kent Police.

We provided a report to Kent Police who agreed with our opinion.