14 July 201317 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Campaigners pressure police to improve

by: The Voice Online
published: 4 July 2013

Mikey Powell, Kingsley Burrell, Sean Rigg, Olaseni Lewis, Roger Sylvester and many more – the tragic roll call of names of those who have died in police custody were read out several times during the UK’s first ever public forum on black mental health.

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Senior political figures joined forces with police chiefs, health professionals, and also families of the dead who gave traumatic accounts of their long fight seeking justice for their loved ones.

Those directly involved in policing and mental health vowed it will be a turning point in the campaign for justice, empathy and expertise when dealing with those in mental crisis.

3 May 201317 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police constables cleared of allowing mentally ill man to die in front of them

originally by: Mail Online
published: 3 May 2013

Two police officers have been found not guilty of allowing a mentally ill man to die in front of them after detaining him in his home.

PCs Maurice Leigh and Neil Bowdery, of Kent Police, both denied misconduct in public office over the death of paranoid schizophrenic Colin Holt.

Mr Holt, 52, died from positional asphyxia at his flat in Gillingham, Kent, on August 30, 2010 after the officers were called to return him to hospital under a Mental Health Act order.

25 April 201317 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Police ‘stood over vulnerable man and watched him die’

originally by: Daily Mail
published: 24 April 2013

Two police officers allowed a vulnerable man to suffocate and die in front of them without trying to help, a court has heard.

PCs Maurice Leigh and Neil Bowdery, of Kent Police, have pleaded not guilty to misconduct in public office over the death of paranoid schizophrenic Colin Holt in August 2010.

Maidstone Crown Court [was told] that police had been called to the 52-year-old’s flat in Gillingham, Kent, to bring him back to hospital as he was subject to a Mental Health Act order.