Investigation into death of man found ‘no indication of wrongdoing’ by officers

Police had been called by staff at the Tregolls Manor care home at about 2.22am on July 3, 2022, to a report that a man had just broken in and was covered in blood and shouting.

Officers arrived at 2.30am and found the man, later identified as Godrick Osei, 35, who lived at an address locally, had locked himself in a toilet.

Officers attempted to engage with Mr Osei, gained entry to the toilet and after a brief interaction handcuffed him to the front. Mr Osei soon became unwell, and officers removed the handcuffs and provided medical assistance before paramedics arrived at 2.49am. Mr Osei was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation found that it was “reasonable” for officers to force entry to the toilet as they needed to establish Mr Osei’s state of health bearing in mind the concern he may have suffered significant blood loss. They also needed to consider addressing any offences, and the safeguarding of vulnerable care home residents, said the IOPC.

It added: “We found the level of force used in handcuffing Mr Osei to the front was proportionate in the circumstances, both for his safety so he could be better assessed, and the safety of the officers.

“The evidence indicates that restraint was limited and brief, that officers moved Mr Osei to a sitting position once handcuffed and that they removed the handcuffs as soon as they noticed medical assistance was needed.

“After careful review of officer body-worn video, we found no evidence of any further use of force. No Taser was fired during the incident, but we found it reasonable for an officer to have drawn one as a deterrent when it was unclear if Mr Osei had any weapon. Mr Osei was in fact unarmed.”

A pathologist determined the medical cause of Mr Osei’s death as acute behavioural disturbance associated with cocaine use. There was evidence Mr Osei had consumed cocaine in the 24 hours prior to his death.

At an inquest held in Truro last week, a jury returned a narrative conclusion.

IOPC director Derrick Campbell said: “My sympathies go out to Mr Osei’s family and everyone affected by his sad death.

“We thoroughly investigated police contact with Mr Osei during the dynamic circumstances that unfolded early that morning.

“Officers were faced with an injured man in a highly agitated state who wasn’t initially complying with instructions. During the three-minutes of hands-on encounter with Mr Osei, they were operating in the challenging environment of a small toilet area in a residential care home at night.

“Our investigation found that police use of force during the incident was justifiable and that officers largely treated the situation as a medical episode once they could see Mr Osei, who was in a panicked and distressed state.

“While we found no indication of any wrongdoing by police, we decided the performance of one police constable was unsatisfactory in that he did not speak to Mr Osei, who was in a mental health crisis, respectfully and could have shown greater sensitivity when moving him.

“Having applied our discrimination guidelines, we found insufficient evidence to support a finding that any officer’s conduct towards Mr Osei, who was black, was motivated either consciously or unconsciously by racial bias.”

The IOP noted there was a two-minute delay in officers updating the ambulance service that Mr Osei’s condition had seriously worsened, however, officers present were first aid trained and administering CPR effectively.

Following the end of our investigation in October 2023, the IOPC made recommendations, which were accepted by Devon and Cornwall Police, that:

• The force should ensure all officers and staff are effectively trained in verbal de-escalation as the default response to any incident involving someone with mental health problems; and
• Officers should be reminded that, even if an ambulance is already en-route, they must update the Ambulance Service immediately if a patient’s condition deteriorates.

The IOPC said it was “disappointed” that police officers involved declined to answer questions when investigators attended police premises to conduct witness interviews with them, which hindered its ability to “obtain full and frank accounts and unnecessarily prolonged the investigation”.

“We have asked Devon and Cornwall Police to remind officers of their duty to cooperate with IOPC investigations,” it added.

During the IOPC investigation it analysed police officer body-worn video, along with officer accounts, and reviewed CCTV footage from the care home.

“We also considered police call logs and local and national police guidance, and witness statements from care home staff and members of the public,” the IOPC said. “Following the end of our investigation we shared our report and findings with the police force, Mr Osei’s family and the coroner to help inform the inquest proceedings.”

In a statement following the inquest into the death of Mr Osei, Devon and Cornwall Police said: “We acknowledge the findings of the jury following the inquest into the death of Godrick Osei and our condolences and sympathies remain with his family and friends.

“The inquest concluded Mr Osei died in Truro in the early hours of July 3, 2022.

“As was made clear in the inquest proceedings, our officers were faced with a challenging set of circumstances on July 3 2022.

“It should be noted that the jury has found no police officer was subject to any criticism in the conclusion heard by the court although there were numerous complicating medical factors.

“The inquest heard witness evidence from a number of agencies, including police officers who attended the incident, as well as senior officers.

“Following Mr Osei’s death, a mandatory referral was made to the IOPC.

“The IOPC’s investigation did not identify any criminal or disciplinary matters.

“Some learning was recommended by the IOPC and this has been implemented. One officer undertook reflective practice around performance and attendance procedures.