Police sergeant and custody officers charged over death of Thomas Orchard

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/17/police-charged-death-thomas-orchard-custody

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A police sergeant and two custody officers have been charged with manslaughter over the death of a mentally ill man who died a week after collapsing in a police cell.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced on Wednesday that the three officers – Sergeant Jan Kingshott, Simon Tansley and Michael Marsden – had been charged with manslaughter and misconduct in public office over the death of 32-year-old Thomas Orchard in October 2012. Kingshott is a police officer, while Tansley and Marsden are members of police staff.

Orchard – who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia – died in hospital seven days after collapsing unconscious in a cell at Heavitree police station in Exeter. He had been bound in handcuffs and leg restraints and a padded belt had been placed across his mouth and nose. He had been in police custody for half an hour when he lost consciousness.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation into his death examined the risk around using a padded restraining belt around an individual’s head to stop them spitting or biting.

Malcolm McHaffie, the CPS deputy head of special crime, announced the charges on Wednesday against the officers.

“Sergeant Jan Kingshott and Custody Detention Officers Simon Tansley and Michael Marsden, all of Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, have been charged with the manslaughter of Thomas Orchard and with misconduct in public office,” he said.

“As part of our review of this case we have also decided that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against three Devon & Cornwall police constables and an on-site custody nurse employed by Serco.

“The decision to prosecute was reached after careful consideration of the evidence and was taken in accordance with the code for crown prosecutors. We have determined that there is sufficient evidence to give rise to a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.

“All three individuals will appear at Exeter magistrates court on 29 January 2015.”

Orchard worked as a church caretaker in Exeter. He was arrested in the centre of the city at 11.10am on 3 October 2012 after the police received 999 calls reporting his disturbed behaviour.

He was brought to the ground – according to witnesses – put into a van and driven to the police station where he was restrained and shortly afterwards collapsed.

Orchard was kept in a coma in hospital but did not recover.

Details of the charges against the officers said they had allegedly committed manslaughter by unlawful act, alleging all three had used unlawful force on Orchard; and gross negligence manslaughter, alleging that the officers breached their duty of care to Orchard by restraining him in a way that restricted his breathing over a prolonged period of time.

The officers are also charged with misconduct in public office in that they allegedly wilfully misconducted themselves in relation to their dealings with Orchard.

The IPCC investigation into the death of Orchard examined the actions of four police officers, two custody staff and an agency nurse.

The watchdog sent a file to the CPS in 2014 and to the Health and Safety Executive asking it consider a corporate prosecution against the force.

After its investigation the IPCC said it had identified a risk in the way the emergency restraint belt was used on Orchard where it was tied around his face to stop him spitting or biting. The watchdog wrote to all forces in England and Wales in November 2012 expressing its concern about the risk to individuals from using the belt in this way.

The family of Orchard released a statement through the charity Inquest, which has been supporting them.

They said: “We welcome today’s decision; it makes us cautiously optimistic that justice will be done for our much-loved son and brother. Most importantly, we think that members of the public will get the chance to decide questions of criminal responsibility.

“Our thoughts today are also with the families of others who have died in police custody and who feel that there should have also been prosecutions in their cases. Whilst we know they will be happy for us, we understand that today’s news will have increased their sense of injustice and their feelings of frustration; we can only hope that this decision to prosecute heralds a more robust approach by the IPCC and CPS to deaths in police custody in the future.”