An inquest released on 9 October concluded that excessive use of force by @metpoliceuk and “serious failures” by public service providers contributed to Kevin Clarke’s death in police custody.

#JusticeForKevinClarke #BLMUK

@TheCanaryUK https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/10/10/i-cant-breathe-uk-police-restraint-contributed-to-kevin-clarkes-death-inquest-finds/

Clarke, a 35-year-old Black man, died following restraint by @metpoliceuk officers in Lewisham on 9 March 2018. On body camera footage, Clarke can be heard telling officers: “I can’t breathe” and “I’m going to die”.

#BlackLivesMatter #JusticeForKevinClarke

According to @INQUEST_ORG, the medical cause of Clarke’s death was “Acute Behavioural Disturbance (in a relapse of schizophrenia) leading to exhaustion and cardiac arrest contributed to by restraint struggle and being walked.”

#WorldMentalHealthDay

Evidence was heard that the officers had recognised signs of mental ill health and were aware of the risks of restraint. In spite of this, Clarke was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, and had leg restraints placed on him.

#WorldMentalHealthDay

The inquiry also highlighted serious failures involving @Ldn_Ambulance, which failed to provide basic medical care. Paramedics failed to conduct a complete clinical assessment of Clarke’s condition or provide clinical advice...They didn’t even bring their medical emergency bag.

Before his death, Clarke was under the clinical care of @MaudsleyNHS, and lived in assisted housing for people with complex mental health needs run by the Penrose Jigsaw Project.

The jury found that both service providers missed opportunities for earlier, less risky intervention, and failed to provide critical information to manage Clarke’s relapse and ensure his wellbeing.

Clarke’s death sits in the broader context of disproportionate deaths of Black people following the use of force and neglect in police custody. It also speaks to the persistent criminalisation of Black people, particularly those suffering from #mentalhealth issues.

Clarke was experiencing a mental health crisis, and needed to be taken to a safe place. He, like so many others, should have received mental health first aid from a medical professional rather than inappropriate, inhumane restraint at the hands of police.

Clarke was systematically failed by services which were supposed to protect him, and he is not alone in this. People from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds are overrepresented in the 1,760+ deaths in police custody or following police contact since 1990.

We need to challenge structural racism in all public services, proper funding for community support and mental health services, and to move away from the use of police as first responders in mental health emergencies.

If we don’t see root and branch change – and fast – there will be many more brutal, unnecessary deaths just like Clarke’s.

Read the full story at @TheCanaryUK:

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/10/10/i-cant-breathe-uk-police-restraint-contributed-to-kevin-clarkes-death-inquest-finds/

#JusticeForKevinClarke #BlackLivesMatter #WorldMentalHealthDay