IPCC: Sussex officers acted `appropriately` in restraint case

Sussex Police officers acted appropriately when restraining a man who was self-harming, an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation has found.

Four officers from the force received a call from Gatwick Airport staff at around 3am on February 8, 2012, relating to Ernestas Anikinas, a 33-year-old Lithuanian man who had been reported as acting strangely and self-harming. He was attempting to fly back to Lithuania when he became distressed and agitated in the shopping area of the south terminal.

Officers approached Mr Anikinas and spent some time trying to calm him down, checking the Police National Computer (PNC) for any relevant information and using an interpreter to talk to him before escorting him to Gatwick Airport railway station and informing him not to return to the airport.

Mr Anikinas smashed his phone in front of officers, and was seen by witnesses at approximately 3.30am smashing a bottle and using it to injure the right side of his neck. He was still holding the bottle when officers approached him, and two officers used Tasers to make him drop the item before they restrained him and administered first aid.

Despite the arrival of paramedics on the scene, Mr Anikinas was pronounced dead at 4.20am.

An inquest jury at Horsham Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of suicide on April 10. An IPCC investigation, which concluded in August 2012, found no evidence of any criminal or misconduct offences against any of the officers involved.

The Sussex Police officers acted lawfully in requesting Mr Anikinas leave the airport, but the IPCC said it would have been to more appropriate to move him to a comfortable environment and speak to him.

IPCC Commissioner Mike Franklin said the use of Tasers and restraint by officers was “appropriate”, especially given the “distressing scene” and the “horrific injuries” Mr Anikinas inflicted on himself, but concluded they could have done more to help a vulnerable person by trying to establish the cause of his distress.

“This is a terribly sad case and my thoughts are with Mr Anikinas’ family whom, by all accounts, he was trying to get home to when he tragically died,” he said.

“Plainly Mr Anikinas was in a distressed state when officers first encountered him. He was agitated having tried to cut his wrists and then proceeded to smash his mobile phone in front of them.

“The decision for officers to restrain someone under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act can be difficult, but faced with these circumstances more could have been done to try to identify why Mr Anikinas was so agitated.”

Chris Ball chief inspector at Sussex Police, said: “This was a horrific incident and our thoughts are with Mr Anikinas’ family.

“Mr Anikinas had travelled to Gatwick in an effort to get home to Lithuania before being advised by his family to go to Victoria station. In the circumstances officers had no powers to detain him. There appeared to be nothing more they could do to assist him and they escorted him to the rail station concourse.

“What followed next was distressing for all and the officers involved did everything they possibly could to save his life. The court has been shown CCTV of the efforts they took for which they have been praised by the family and the coroner.

“Mr Anikinas` death was a tragedy and we will of course seek to take any learning for the future from the IPCC report. However as both the IPCC and the coroner have observed the officers were faced with very difficult circumstances and it was their primary objective to save Mr Anikinas` life.”