Robert Gracey died in September 2021 in Lincoln. He had approached police in an agitated and distressed state caused by cocaine. Police failed to recognise this as a medical emergency, instead using incapacitant spray, double leg restraints, handcuffs, ground pins and multiple distraction strikes to detain and force him into the back of a police van, where he remained restrained until he became unresponsive.
An inquest jury has now concluded that this use of force contributed to Robert’s death. They found that police had failed to act to national training standards on dealing with people in his condition and had made only minimal attempts to de-escalate before resorting to force that was unreasonable, disproportionate and “unacceptable”. They found that the failure to monitor Robert in the back of the police van was also “seriously insufficient”.
Carolynn Gallwey and Emily Hobhouse of Bhatt Murphy act for Robert’s family instructing Raj Desai of Matrix Chambers.
The family is supported by Jodie Anderson, senior caseworker at INQUEST
The family’s full statement following the inquest can be found here.
