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Olaseni Lewis died in part from 'disproportionate use of force' Mother of man who died after police restraint calls for prosecution
(about 2 hours later)
The death of a man after prolonged restraint by police on a mental health ward was caused in part by “disproportionate and unreasonable” use of force, pain compliance techniques and multiple mechanical restraints, an inquest has found. The mother of a young man who was killed by prolonged restraint on a mental health ward has called for prosecution of the police officers involved, after an inquest concluded that excessive force led to his death.
The narrative conclusion, which came after the coroner ruled out a verdict of unlawful killing, found fault with both police officers and medics involved in the death of Olaseni Lewis at Bethlem Royal hospital in south London in 2010. Olaseni Lewis, 23, from South Norwood, south London, died on 3 September 2010, three days after he was subjected to two periods of restraint by police lasting more than 30 minutes, while in the care of Bethlem Royal hospital.
Lewis, 23, an IT graduate with no prior history of mental illness, collapsed at the hospital after being taken there by relatives on 31 August 2010. He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at Croydon University hospital on 4 September. He had no history of violence or mental illness and had been brought to hospital by his mother and father after suffering an episode of mental ill health that began over the bank holiday weekend.
A postmortem examination found he had suffered a hypoxic brain injury, which occurs when the brain is starved of oxygen, jurors heard on the second day of the inquest. In a narrative conclusion given after the coroner ruled out a finding of unlawful killing, the jury identified a litany of failures by both police and medical staff that contributed to Lewis’s death. They said: “The excessive force, pain compliance techniques and multiple mechanical restraints were disproportionate and unreasonable. On the balance of probability, this contributed to the cause of death.”
Early in the inquest, Lewis’s mother, Ajibola Lewis, recalled how a nurse at the Maudsley hospital in south London, had warned her not to allow him to be transferred to Bethlem, where the incident occurred. Police failed to act in accordance with their training and recognise Lewis’s acute behavioural disorder as a medical emergency, the jury said. A doctor then failed to respond when Lewis became unresponsive and his heart rate slowed dramatically during the second period of restraint.
“She said to me, ‘Look, don’t let him go to the Bethlem, don’t let him go there,’” Ajibola Lewis said. However, she took the decision, on the advice of doctors, that her son should attend the mental health hospital as a voluntary patient. “The police failed to follow their training, which requires them to place an unresponsive person into the recovery position and if necessary administer life support,” the jury concluded. “On the balance of probability this also contributed to the cause of death.”
The case only came to inquest after years of investigations into who should be held responsible for Lewis’s death. In 2015, following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the Crown Prosecution Service determined that the officers involved had no criminal case to answer. The medical cause of death was given as a combination of hypoxic brain injury (which occurs when the brain is starved of oxygen), cardiorespiratory arrest and restraint in association with acute behavioural disturbance.
Last year, it was decided that no charges of corporate homicide would be brought against the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust, which manages Bethlem, after it was investigated by Devon and Cornwall police. After the conclusion was handed down, Ajibola Lewis, Olaseni’s mother, said the family had suffered “seven years of struggle” to find out the circumstances of her son’s death. She expressed her regret at turning “to the state” in a desperate bid to help her son.
A Health and Safety Executive investigation into Lewis’s death is pending following the conclusion of the inquest. She said the family had heard of failures at multiple levels among staff at Bethlem. “And we have heard about the brute force with which the police held Seni in a prolonged restraint, which they knew to be dangerous: a restraint that was maintained until Seni was dead, for all intents and purposes.
“In light of the evidence we have heard, we consider that the prolonged restraint that resulted in Seni’s death was not and cannot be justified, and we now look to the Crown Prosecution Service to reconsider the case, so that the officers involved in the restraint may be brought to answer for their actions before a criminal court.”
Theresa May, while home secretary, took a personal interest in the case and met the Lewis family in January 2015.
The first investigation into Lewis’s death by the police watchdog initially cleared officers over his death, but pressure from the family meant the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) scrapped its conclusions and started a fresh inquiry.
In a letter to them and another bereaved family, May wrote: “It is clearly unsatisfactory that families should have to go to court to quash an IPCC report in order to secure a second investigation into the death of a loved one.”
In both the Lewis case and the case of musician Sean Rigg, who died after police restraint in 2008, the IPCC claimed to have carried out a thorough investigation that exonerated the police, only to have to scrap that conclusion and restart its investigation, meaning the families are facing further years of delay. This was known to have concerned May.
The Met police said in a statement: “The matter was reinvestigated with a final report in April 2015 recommending six officers face gross misconduct hearings and five face misconduct hearings. One officer had left the MPS prior to the second IPCC investigation; two others have also since left the MPS.
“Following liaison with the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, the IPCC subsequently directed the MPS to hold gross misconduct and misconduct hearings in connection with those officers still serving. The CPS also considered the matter in 2015 and decided no criminal charges should be brought against any officer.”
Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, who has supported the Lewis family throughout their campaign for justice, said the jury had reached the most damning possible conclusions on the actions of police and medics.
“This was a most horrific death,” she said. “Eleven police officers were involved in holding down a terrified young man until his complete collapse, legs and hands bound in limb restraints, while mental health staff stood by.
“Officers knew the dangers of this restraint but chose to go against clear, unequivocal training. Evidence heard at this inquest begs the question of how racial stereotyping informed Seni’s brutal treatment.”