Thomas Orchard: Police force charged over death of mentally ill man restrained with belt around face

Man’s family dismayed that police have not been charged with corporate manslaughter

Thomas Orchard had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (PA)

A police force is being prosecuted over the death of a mentally ill man who died after being restrained with a belt around his face.

Thomas Orchard died seven days after his arrest in October 2012. A pathologist found he suffered fatal brain damage caused by cardiac arrest and being unable to breathe.

The 32-year-old church caretaker had been reported to police for bizarre and disorientated behaviour in Exeter city centre.

He appeared to attempt to bite an officer as he was taken into a custody suite.

Staff handcuffed Mr Orchard, who would have celebrated his 38th birthday this week, held him down, strapped his legs together and wrapped a large webbing belt around his face.

He was carried face-down into a cell and searched, while struggling and appealing for officers to “let go” and “get off”.

Eventually he was freed from the restraints and left lying motionless for 12 minutes, before officers returned and found he was in cardiac arrest and not breathing.

He was pronounced dead on 10 October 2012 after being transferred to hospital.

A custody sergeant and two civilian detention officers were cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence following a retrial in March 2017. Separate disciplinary proceedings are ongoing.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has now charged the Office of the Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police with a criminal offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The act gives employers the legal duty to ensure people are not “exposed to risks to their health or safety”.

Mr Orchard’s family said they were “dismayed” that prosecutors had not pursued charges over corporate manslaughter after five-and-a-half years of battling for justice.

“His was a needless death caused – directly – by lack of care and negligence from the very people who should have been protecting him,” they said in a statement.

“As a family we can be nothing but dismayed by the decision from the CPS not to prosecute for corporate manslaughter; it is hard to believe after all we have witnessed. However, we are pleased that Devon and Cornwall Police will now need to account for their actions in relation to their approach to health and safety in connection with Thomas’s death.”

Relatives campaigned for a wholesale change in police attitudes and behaviour towards people suffering from mental health problems.

“Thomas died when he was 32 years old – we could not then have ever imagined how long we would have had to sustain our fight for justice,” they added. “Despite almost six years having passed since Thomas’s death, the evidence suggests that few lessons have been learnt and that little has changed.

“We have, sadly, come to the conclusion that only a conviction will bring about a genuine commitment amongst police forces to instigate real change and improvement.”

Thomas Orchard had a history of mental illness and had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was suffering a mental health crisis on the day he was arrested.

He had not taken his medication for seven days and told a mental health professional he believed he was a vampire and should stay inside during the day.

Staff at the Heavitree Road custody unit told a court they did not know Mr Orchard was mentally ill and testified that they believed he posed a threat.

The case will first be heard at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 24 May.

The charges relate to the use of a US-made emergency response belt on Mr Orchard’s face.

The device was designed for use on the arms and legs, but its manual advised that it could be used to prevent a detainee from spitting or biting – a use authorised for Devon and Cornwall Police.

A risk assessment by the force did not identify or refer to any risks to detainees when it was used around the head, which happened in the force 55 times in the year leading up to Mr Orchard’s detention.

The solicitor for his family, Helen Stone of Hickman and Rose, said it was only the third time a chief constable has been prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in connection with a civilian’s death.

“Devon and Cornwall Police have failed to properly acknowledge public concern around Thomas’s death, including a repeated refusal to accept that they or their officers have a case to answer for their involvement,” she added.

“Now the courts will hear the case against the office of the chief constable. Thomas’s family have waited long enough.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it passed evidence to the CPS around the police’s “corporate decision-making” over the belt.

The watchdog has separately directed Devon and Cornwall Police to bring six disciplinary hearings for gross misconduct against a sergeant, a current and former detention officer and three police constables.

Deborah Coles, director of the Inquest campaign group, said Mr Orchard’s death “involved some of the most brutal use of restraint equipment by police that we have ever seen”.

“Since 2011 the CPS have had the power to bring corporate manslaughter charges against police forces. They have never used this power, and have chosen not to here,” she added.

“If not now, then when? We have consistently seen the corporate role and responsibilities surrounding deaths in police custody delegated to the background, unscrutinised and unchallenged. This historic prosecution of Devon and Cornwall police is an important and necessary response.”

Shaun Sawyer, Chief Constable for Devon and Cornwall Police, said a corporate manslaughter charge would have required evidence that the force’s senior management caused Mr Orchard’s death.

“Based upon our understanding of the evidence, this extremely serious allegation was always strongly resisted by the force,” he said. ”Any decision to pursue criminal charges against the force is nevertheless of grave concern and we take the CPS’s decision to charge a health and safety offence very seriously. We will now take time to consider that decision in detail.”

He added: “We continue to support our staff following this decision, but the effect this has had on the Orchard family and our staff since October 2012 cannot, and should not, be underestimated.”

The announcement comes after a series of deaths in police custody, with the restraint of two young black men who died within weeks of each other sparking angry protests last year.

Over 2016-17 there have been 14 deaths in, or following, police custody – eight of whom had mental health concerns – according to IOPC figures.