Another death, another IPCC failure

originally published:
1st July 2009

An inquest jury has returned their verdict as to how my clients’ father, Faisal al-Ani, came by his death while in the custody of Essex police on 31 July 2005. They found that he died of an acute cardiac dysrhythmia during a period of prolonged restraint by police against a background of, among other things, acute psychotic illness and heart problems.

While they found that the force used on him was appropriate, they found that insufficient account was taken of his physical welfare.

Faisal al-Ani was 43 and a father of six. In the previous two years he had suffered two psychotic episodes and an abnormal heart rhythm. On the evening of his death, al-Ani was seen behaving strangely in Southend town centre; it appears he had once again succumbed to psychotic illness.

One of the Police Community Support Officers who observed his behaviour commented that he did not even seem to recognise the police; he certainly never acknowledged or spoke to them.

Following a brief scuffle, al-Ani was purportedly arrested “for public order” and led away. After a few steps he braced his legs and hunched his shoulders. What happened to him as a result of this display of so-called “aggressive resistance” is captured on CCTV. Three police officers throw him to the ground and hold him down for about 10 minutes while they try to cuff him.

Read full report >

Posted by Tippa Naphtali on 29/07/2009. Filed under Custody Deaths,Mental Health & Others. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry