Mental Health

Larry Fedja

Police criticised over death of former cage fighter

Jacob Michael - CCTV Footageoriginally by: The Guardian  
published: 26 October 2012

A coroner has criticised a police force after “serious deficiencies” in procedures were exposed by an inquest into the death of a former cage fighter who was pepper-sprayed by officers. Jacob Michael, 25, died by misadventure as a result of “cocaine induced excited delirium”, an inquest jury found.

But the jury also found that a catalogue of police failures may have contributed to his death.

Speaking after the inquest, Michael’s mother, Christine Michael, said she was disappointed by the verdict and said she still held the police responsible.

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Larry Fedja

Unproven science used to ‘explain’ custody deaths

Doctor in the labA controversial unproven syndrome with roots in the US is being used in British coroners’ courts to explain why people die after police restraint. 

‘Excited delirium’ or ‘sudden-in-custody-death-syndrome’ is a niche diagnosis not yet recognised by the World Health Organisation or any international authority.

A number of leading pathologists have expressed concern about the use of the term in inquests. Listen to Programme >

Individuals in the throes of ‘excited delirium’ are described as aggressive, agitated, displaying bizarre behaviour, insensitive to pain and with superhuman strength until they collapse and die

But research by the Bureau has found that the ‘condition’ has been used by coroners to explain 10 restraint-related deaths that occurred in police custody in England and Wales since the late 1990s. 

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4WardEverUK

Police ignored pleas for ambulance, say family

Jake MichaelTippa Naphtali, the cousin of Mikey Powell said; “When I saw this headline about Jake’s case its first impact was how identical it was to headlines related to my cousin’s case. The more I read about Jake’s death the more I realised the striking similarity of events to those of Mikey’s.

“I am extremely saddended for the family and friends of Jake and outraged that such a sequence of events could be repeated almost blow for blow. Where are these lessons that police forces throughout the UK claim they take on after deaths in custody? Are we going to continue to allow this complacency?

“This has to stop. Family campaigners need to take matters into our hands in a manner more unprecidented than anything seen before. We need to adopt an intelligent and collaborative response working with a single vision and strategy.

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