Probe into death of Walsall man who collapsed in police cell finds officers acted appropriately
An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that a Walsall man who died in police custody was dealt with in an appropriate manner by officers.
Luke Anthony Barratt, aged 34, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving in the Walsall area shortly after 1am on August 19, 2023, after police followed him to the driveway of his partner’s home.
The IOPC said following his arrival at Bloxwich Police Station he became unwell and then unresponsive in a cell. An ambulance was called and he was taken to Walsall Manor Hospital shortly before 4am, but he died later the same morning.
West Midlands Ambulance Service paramedics recovered a small plastic bag from his airway, which suggested that drugs may have been ingested at some point, and a postmortem report found that he had died due to the effects of cocaine and heart disease.
On Thursday, following a four-day jury inquest at the Black Country Coroner’s Court in Oldbury, a coroner returned a conclusion that Mr Barratt’s death was drug-related.
In a statement after the inquest, 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.”
The IOPC said it found no indication of misconduct on the part of West Midlands Police in relation to the case.
It stated that witness accounts were taken from officers and the paramedics and more than 100 clips of police bodycam and CCTV footage from the initial stop and arrest through to events at the police station were reviewed.
It further stated that evidence showed that Mr Barratt was behaving erratically when arrested and that he had a marker against him on police systems for drug concealment. As a result the investigators concluded that it was reasonable in the circumstances that he was handcuffed on arrest and strip searched at the Bloxwich custody suite.
It also concluded that use of force by officers during the strip search, including application of leg restraints and deployment of incapacitant spray was necessary, reasonable and proportionate given the level of resistance they encountered - and that the need to ensure that Mr Barratt was not concealing anything that could be used to harm himself or others took precedence over examination by a healthcare professional.
The IOPC added that in its opinion the medical assistance provided after his condition deteriorated in the custody suite was appropriate.