matty01

do you think the coppers should have been charged with man slaughter?

ProperCharlie

i found the programme quite interesting. i started off feeling inclined to be sympathetic towards the coppers, but by the end was much less so. maybe the programme was biased - difficult to say.

basically, if you believe the coppers' story, then they are only guilty of slight negligence: i.e., the bloke passed out in the back of the van, they bring him in, dump him on the floor, and he dies. As soon as they bring him in one of the officers at the station tells the ones bringing him in to put him in the recovery position - they don't do this. This one simple procedure could have saved the bloke's life and also mitigated most of the blame from the coppers.

The bigger issue is whether or not they give the bloke a beating in the back of the van on the way to the station. I feel that the balance of probability is that they did:

1) He was mouthing off at them before they put him in the van
2) He left the hospital with his trousers up and a belt on
3) He left the hospital fully conscious
4) He was black
5) Why was one of the cops so convinced that he was "play acting"? maybe cos he knew that he'd just put the boot into the guy and wanted to try and disguise this fact.
6) He is carried into the station unconscious, with his trousers round his knees, no belt, and *maybe* additional injuries to his face that were *maybe* not present when he left hospital.
7) All coppers refused to answer any questions relating to what happened to the man. No smoke without fire?

just my opinion.

ProperCharlie

no-one else find this curious? someone was dying whilst officers were standing around chatting about what they could charge him with. seems quite interesting, to say the least.

CrisPDuk

What is this? I have heard nothing about it, has been it on TV recently or something?

ProperCharlie

last night on C4. Happened a few years ago in Humberside. A prosecution was launched against the officers but a judge threw it out on some sort of technicality.

CrisPDuk

Oh, right. Like I said I had heard nothing about it. Are people really surprised that a judge threw it out though?

ProperCharlie

not massively. i was more interested to know if people thought that the coppers had put the boot in or not.

fivepint

Didnt see this particular programme, but did see the documentry on racisim on police training courses, so it's not hard to imagine they did beat him to death! Shocking. They recently did an expose on the Gardai here in Ireland, basic conclusion: They ARE above the law! Obviously not all coppers are bad, but like any group of men in a highly charged situation, morality seems to go out the window, wether its coppers, iraqis, football supportes or even footballers!

Society needs to look hard at why this is happening, growing social apathy?

MJW

Although I didn't see the programme I read about this and agree its difficult to pin blame. However, the missing belt can be easily explained as anyone who has spent a night in the cells will tell you : when you are checked in they take off your belt and even your shoelaces to prevent you from hanging yourself.

Carter

Not that easily;

The_Lizard

Last week here in an Ohio small town, a black man was arrested for drunk driving. The police said he was verbally abusive. Now the man is paralyzed from the neck down, and the police say they had nothing to do with that. I am waiting to hear their explanation of how a truck-driving father of two children somehow managed to paralyze himself on the jailhouse floor.

Andy Porter

I saw the programme. I was shocked at the way they ignored a person who was clearly unable to breathe properly. But not that it happened. Those dogs watched a man die infront of them, and what was heard on the camera 10 mins after his body was removed ? ******* monkey noises. Says it all. SCUM.

stormyuklondon1

as far as i'm concerned the officers didnot show a duty of care to the prisoner. very wrong. the way potential evidence, such as the uniforms being dry cleaned, was lost is unbelievable.
i also think it was highly irresponsible of the bbc showing this programme before the civil case has been concluded. who's to say that the defence will now argue that any witnesses will have been prejudiced by the programme and get the case thrown out? i bet its happened before!
as for the monkey noises, who is it? who knows? i honestly do not believe it has anything to do with it. any copper who knew what had happened wouldve avoided the custody suite like the plague.
all in all a tradgedy that might of been avoided.

J S W

It doesn't add up I agree but these days the police are so scared of there own backside as every other person calls, racism/abuse/asult etc.

In my home town recently a copper was suspended after a tramp (sp) died during an attempt to arrest him (fell and banged his head). It happened on a busy afternoon right in the middle of town and 90% of witnesses said he did nothing wrong, he was suspended and investigated, this went on for months he has now been declared totally innocent and his actions were deemed to be 100% acceptable. This terrible episode has cost him his marriage and many friends, my dad worked with him for 20 years I have met him on many occasions and he is a dam good bloke. Unfortunately another decent person chewed up and spat out by today's society.

As I said at the start this situation doesn't add up but every coin has 2 sides.

James