Officers treated man ‘appropriately’ prior to death in custody
An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that a man who died after being taken into custody was dealt with in “an appropriate manner” by West Midlands Police officers.
Luke Barratt, 34, was arrested for drink-driving in Walsall just after 1am on August 19, 2023, after police followed him to the driveway of his partner’s home.
Following his arrival at Bloxwich custody suite, he became unwell and then unresponsive in a cell. An ambulance took him to Walsall Manor Hospital shortly before 4am but he died there later that morning.
Paramedics taking him to hospital recovered a small plastic bag from his airway, suggestive of drugs having been ingested at some point. A post-mortem found that he had died due to the effects of cocaine and heart disease.
At the end of a four-day inquest at the Black Country Coroner’s Court, a jury concluded that Mr Barratt’s death was drug related.
“We completed our investigation in April 2024 and issuing our findings has awaited the end of the inquest proceedings,” the IOPC said.
“We began our investigation following a mandatory referral from West Midlands Police, and looked at the actions and decisions of officers, staff and health care professionals during Mr Barratt’s detention, and whether those were in line with police policies and procedure.
“We did not find any indication of misconduct on the part of police, and all officers and staff were treated as witnesses throughout our enquiries.”
The IOPC said evidence it gathered indicated that Mr Barratt was behaving erratically when arrested and that he had a marker against him on police systems for drug concealment.
“We concluded that it was reasonable in the circumstances that he was handcuffed on arrest and strip searched at the custody suite,” it added.
“We also found that use of force by officers during the strip search, including application of leg restraints and deployment of incapacitant spray at relatively close distance, was necessary, reasonable and proportionate given the level of resistance they encountered and the limited cell space.
“Police policy states that where there are signs of Acute Behavioural Disturbance restraint should only be used in an emergency, which was considered in this case.
“We took the view that the need to ensure that Mr Barratt was not concealing anything that could be used to harm himself, or others, took precedence before he was examined by a health care professional. In our opinion the medical assistance provided to Mr Barratt after his condition deteriorated in the custody suite was appropriate.”
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “My sympathies remain with Mr Barratt’s family and everyone affected by his death.
“When someone dies in police custody, our role is to independently investigate the circumstances.
“Our investigation also considered complaints from Mr Barratt’s family that there were opportunities for him to have taken concealed drugs after his arrest and during transportation to custody. From reviewing the accounts and footage available to us we found no evidence to support that and we formed the opinion it was more likely he ingested drugs prior to his arrest.
“Mr Barratt’s family also complained that officers relayed his death to them in a blunt manner. From the evidence available to us in relation to that we were unable to reach a conclusion as to whether the service provided by police was acceptable.”
During its investigation, the IOPC gathered accounts from officers, staff and paramedics, and reviewed more than 100 clips of police body-worn video and CCTV footage from the police stop and arrest through to events at the police station.