Police considered taking man in crisis to custody

Officers who restrained a man while he was having a mental health crisis considered arresting him "for assault" while he resisted being detained, an inquest has heard.

Kaine Fletcher died at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham on 3 July 2022 after being detained under the Mental Health Act.

Police were called to the 26-year-old's accommodation, at young people's charity YMCA, to carry out a welfare check following concerns he was suicidal.

PC Dylan Scally, who assisted in the restraint of Mr Fletcher, told Nottingham Coroner's Court it was discussed with a supervisor that he could be taken to a custody suite, but added that would not have been a decision he would have made.

Police issued a Section 136 order - an emergency police power under the Mental Health Act - to detain Mr Fletcher after he became paranoid and withdrew his consent to be taken to a hospital by officers.

Support was called for and Mr Fletcher was restrained by multiple officers using force, the court heard.

During the incident, Mr Fletcher was struck by three officers as a "distraction tactic" to stop him biting down hard on his fingers, the inquest was told.

PC Scally, who struck him on the jaw during the incident, told the jury: "All I can say is that I needed to do what I had to do to release his fingers from his mouth.

"I never wanted to be punching or striking anyone. I felt I did what I had to just to save his limbs."

Mr Fletcher shouted "help" several times, kicked his legs around, and spat at officers during the incident, the inquest heard.

The court heard that under police policy, the "appropriate mode of transport" for a person detained under Section 136 was an ambulance, and that according to a "service level agreement" it should have attended the incident within 30 minutes.

However, an ambulance was not called once the emergency power was actioned.

In their evidence, PC Scally, PC Steven Thompson and PC Hannah Bodle said they were unaware of the policy.

A fourth officer, PC Simnett, told the court he had not seen such a policy but was aware of what he understood to be "guidance" around calling an ambulance for a Section 136 patient.

He said: "I was satisfied that calling an ambulance at that time was not appropriate.

"At the point at which I identified it was a medical emergency, I called an ambulance."

PC Simnett added there was "careful consideration" for the position Mr Fletcher was placed in during the incident and that any restraint was "purely for the safety of him and officers".

Mr Fletcher had been diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder in 2020 and also struggled with a drug addiction for several years.

The inquest, which began on 30 June, heard Mr Fletcher's medical cause of death was recorded as the "physiological effects of physical exertion combined with the toxic effects of cocaine and other substances".

The inquest continues.

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