IPCC investigates Newcastle death in custody

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating a death in custody in Newcastle.

Dean Grant, 20, from Byker, fell ill while in custody at Pilgrim Street Police Station in Newcastle. Paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead on route to Newcastle General Hospital.

Mr Grant had been arrested at a house in Shieldfield for a breach of bail at approximately 4:45pm that day.

The death was referred by Northumbria Police to the IPCC that night and an independent investigation is underway. A post mortem has been conducted which has proved inconclusive. Toxicology tests are now awaited.

Gary Garland, IPCC Commissioner for the North East, said: “Any death in police custody must be independently investigated by the IPCC. The IPCC’s involvement is not an indication necessarily of any failings by the police, rather it is a requirement for independence in an investigation where a person dies while in the care of the police.”