Man becomes unwell in custody - Greater Manchester Police, November 2017

On 12 November 2017 Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers attended reports of a domestic incident and arrested a man. They placed him into the back of a police van after searching him. Two officers transported the man to a custody suite. During the journey the man collapsed and an ambulance was called. The man later recovered in hospital, but told medical staff that he had found a bag of white powder in the back of the police van and had eaten the contents. He was discharged by the hospital and taken to custody later that day.

Our Lead Investigator attempted to engage with the man, but was unsuccessful. The Lead Investigator interviewed the officers who attended the incident and also reviewed custody CCTV, as well as the officers’ body-worn camera footage.

We were not able to establish whether the man did find a bag of white powder in the back of the police van or whether he had concealed it on his person, nor that he did consume anything while in the back of the van. We were not able to determine either whether the man’s collapse had been caused by his using drugs or other substances prior to the police arriving, or by an underlying medical condition, or by him ingesting the substance he allegedly found and consumed while in the back of the police van. As the man did not engage with our investigation, we were unable to review his medical records.

Based on the evidence available, we found no indication that any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence.

After reviewing our report, GMP agreed.