Police interaction with a man and use of force - Metropolitan Police Service, May 2019

On 23 May 2019 Metropolitan Police Service officers attended a property in Woolwich, south London, after being called by paramedics to assist with taking a man to hospital.

When police arrived, the man was covered in blood and appeared to be having a mental health episode. The man refused to voluntarily get into the ambulance. Officers used handcuffs to assist with removing the man from the property and into the ambulance. Once in the ambulance, the man kicked out and police applied limb restraints to his legs.

On arrival at hospital the man went into cardiac arrest but was recovering well at the time of our investigation.

Our investigators attended the scene, obtained statements from the officers who attended the property, reviewed their body-worn video (BWV) footage and obtained paperwork completed by the paramedics who dealt with the man.

BWV showed that the man’s face and torso were already covered in blood when police arrived. There were also smears of blood on the walls of the flat and on the bed. All evidence suggested that the man sustained his injuries prior to police arrival.

As the man kicked out and thrashed around in the back of the ambulance, which officers believed could have injured a paramedic, a police officer or the man himself, they used handcuffs and limb restraints to assist with taking him safely to hospital. Evidence suggests these restraints were removed once the man was handed over to the medical staff in hospital.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence. We completed our investigation in July 2019.

After reviewing our report, the MPS agreed.