Police response to man restrained by security staff – Metropolitan Police Service, July 2019

On 31 July 2019, a man was seen acting erratically while walking in the street in East London. He had a number of altercations with members of the public and was struck by a number of vehicles. Despite this, the man made his way to the London Excel Centre where he was restrained face down by security guards.
Police arrived and moved the man onto his side after placing him in handcuffs. Checks were done on the man’s breathing and, when it became clear he was not breathing, the man was put on his back and CPR commenced. The man was taken to hospital where he was declared dead.

Our investigators attended the scene and conducted a detailed examination. More than 100 witness statements were taken from police officers, security staff and members of the public. We analysed CCTV footage, police officers’ body-worn camera footage and sought opinion from a first aid expert as to the officers’ actions.

Our investigation concluded in January 2020. We waited for all associated proceedings to be complete 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.

An inquest into the man’s death concluded in February 2022. The jury reached the conclusion that the man died of ‘a cardiorespiratory arrest due to restraint in the prone position following an acute psychotic episode.’ In a narrative conclusion, the jury critiqued both the mental health services and security guards involved in the man’s care and restraint. There were no critical findings made against the attending Metropolitan Police officers.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. In this case, the investigation did not identify any learning.