Three Devon and Cornwall police staff have been cleared by a jury at Bristol crown court of the manslaughter of a man with mental health issues who collapsed while in custody after a heavy webbing belt was placed around his face.
Thomas Orchard suffered a cardiac arrest and brain damage after the belt was held across his face for more than five minutes.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been investigating Devon and Cornwall police and senior management for suspected corporate manslaughter.
The Health and Safety Executive has also been looking into whether the force breached health and safety legislation. The results of those investigations are due to be announced soon.
A number of officers also face disciplinary proceedings over Orchard’s death.
The jury’s decision is a huge relief to the three men on trial, who would have been the first British officers to have been convicted of killing a suspect while in custody.
A number of jurors wept as the verdicts of not guilty were delivered. The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said: “The defendants can be discharged from the dock.
Members of the jury, thank you very much for your attention in this case.”
Speaking outside court, Orchard’s parents, Ken and Alison, said: “Today we join a growing group of people who have lost loved ones in police custody and have found no sense of justice.
“Thomas cannot be brought back, but we want his needless death to bring about change. The change we want most is in the attitude of the police, particularly towards those with mental health vulnerabilities.
“The pain for the past four-and-a-half years has diminished us and today is a setback but, on behalf of those vulnerable people and in memory of our Tom, our fight for truth and transparency continues.”
Sgt Jan Kingshott, 45, and civilian detention officers Simon Tansley, 39, and Michael Marsden, 56, had denied manslaughter. They argued the force used on Orchard, 32, was proportional and lawful.
Orchard, who had paranoid schizophrenia, was arrested in October 2012 following a disturbance in Exeter city centre and taken to the city’s Heavitree police station.
The officers insisted the US-made emergency response belt (ERB) had been used to stop Orchard from biting or spitting at them and said it was an approved piece of equipment supplied to them by Devon and Cornwall police for that purpose.
The prosecution said the ERB had been wrapped tightly around Orchard’s face when he was carried in a prone position and then placed face down in a cell and had restricted his ability to breathe.
The case raises important questions about how people with mental health problems are treated in custody. According to the IPCC, about half of all deaths in or following police custody involve detainees with some form of mental health problem.
Orchard’s family expressed deep concern at how he was treated.
“I’m completely certain that, had it been picked up as a mental health crisis and taken to a place where that was understood, he would be alive,” Alison Orchardsaid. His sister, Jo, added: “Tom was really, really let down. It was clearly a medical crisis, not a criminal one.”
They are angry at Devon and Cornwall police. Alison Orchard said: “I think I have seen an arrogance and I think I’ve seen them not take this death seriously.”
Deborah Coles, the director of the campaign group Inquest, said: “Irrespective of the verdict, it has been a matter of significant wider public interest that this prosecution was brought.
“Thomas’s death is amongst the most horrific that Inquest has ever seen. Thomas was in crisis and should have been taken to hospital. Instead he found himself bound and gagged with a restraint belt across his face in what must have been a terrifying ordeal.
“At a time when police are calling for more restraint equipment, including spit hoods and Tasers, we need to question priorities. Surely the first and most urgent need must be to train officers to respond safely and humanly to those in mental health crisis.
“We hope that this trial and the immense courage Thomas’s family have shown will help lead to changes in police culture and practice so urgently needed.”
After the hearing the IPCC said it has submitted a report from an investigator who had included the opinion that the three officers acquitted – together with four other Devon and Cornwall police officers who were involved in the arrest and restraint of Orchard – have cases to answer for gross misconduct. The final decisions on whether whether disciplinary proceedings should be brought are under deliberation.
The IPCC continues to examine Devon and Cornwall police’s corporate decision-making about the ERB. Investigators are conducting detailed analyses to fully understand the force’s policies and processes governing its use. An independent expert with a background in health and safety has also been instructed in relation to this matter.
The watchdog identified a risk in the way the ERB was used on Orchard as a spit hood and wrote to all chief constables in England and Wales in November 2012. The letter expressed concern that such use of an ERB posed a risk to the individuals being restrained.
Thomas Orchard death: police cleared of manslaughter
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