Diabetic motorist dies in police cell
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Your support makes all the difference.A man who died in a police cell was a diabetic who could hardly speak, his family said yesterday. John William Moorhouse, 51, was taken ill at Killingbeck police station in Leeds an hour after an off-duty officer arrested him for a suspected motoring offence on Friday.
A police surgeon arrived within half an hour but by then Mr Moorhouse was dead. Friends said the father of three, who lived in sheltered housing in Halton Moor, Leeds, was registered disabled. He suffered from fits if he did not receive insulin and his speech problem would have left him unable to warn police if he needed insulin. As West Yorkshire Police began an inquiry into Mr Moorhouse's death under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority, the dead man's eldest son, Mark, 29, said the family was taking legal advice.
West Yorkshire Police would not comment on the reason for Mr Moorhouse's arrest but said that officers involved were being questioned.
Sgt Chris Hutton said: 'A post-mortem examination has been carried out but we are awaiting the results of tests to establish the cause of death.'
An inquest into the death is to be opened in Leeds today.
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