originally by: BBC News
published: 28 January 2014
Merseyside Police needs to review its training after a man’s drug-related death shortly after his arrest, the police watchdog has said. Antony Hughes, 27, of Knowsley, died in February 2012.
An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry found no police misconduct, but said the force’s care for people with behavioural problems was “inadequate”. Merseyside Police said it had “taken on board” the IPCC’s recommendations.
In a statement it said: “The force is absolutely committed to the highest integrity and professional standards of its officers at all times.”
The IPCC concluded officers needed to be “better equipped” to spot the signs of acute behavioural disorder, also known as “excited delirium”, as training was currently “inadequate or inefficient”.
It said witnesses described Mr Hughes as foaming at the mouth, shouting, running in and out of traffic and trying to gain access to houses in East Prescot Road, Liverpool before his arrest.