Two police officers who pepper-sprayed, batoned and Tasered a 92-year-old amputee with dementia over a butter knife could have contributed to his death, an inquest has heard.
Sussex Police was called to the care home where Donald Burgess lived after staff reported he would not let go of a specially-adapted piece of cutlery. The officers' body-worn cameras showed Mr Burgess screaming in pain as he sat in his wheelchair.
Incident at care home
After responding to a complaint that the one-legged pensioner flicked food at a care home worker, PC Stephen Smith arrived before spraying the man and repeatedly hitting him with his baton within seconds of entering his room at the Park Beck home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.
While he still had hold of the knife, PC Rachel Comotto shot the pensioner with her Taser gun in an incident that lasted less than 90 seconds. Mr Burgess' family asked for an inquest into his death to be re-opened following the acquittal of the two officers at a Southwark Crown Court trial in May last year.
Family's argument
At a hearing in Lewes, his family argued it was impossible not to link the death of Mr Burgess to the police officers' actions on July 13 2022. Family member Jesse Nicholls said the coroner should re-open an inquest to investigate any link between the methods of control used on Mr Burgess and his death 22 days later.
He described Sussex Police's suggestion the case was cut and dried as unrealistic. He said: “There is a degree, an air of, unreality in the police submissions. This is a case where an elderly and very vulnerable man was subjected to significant force by police and later died in circumstances he would not have been in.”
The potential extra physiological stress caused by the use of force was enough to reopen the inquest, he said.
Police response
Lawyers for the two PCs said Mr Burgess died from natural causes and his death does not require any further investigation. Sussex Police's Tom Day told the court: “There is no evidence the actions of the officers brought about his death any sooner than it would have been.”
Mr Burgess was admitted to the Conquest Hospital after being Tasered by police, where he was treated for a urinary infection. He was not allowed to return to the care home after he had recovered enough to be discharged on June 28. Mr Burgess remained in hospital and tested positive for Covid on July 9.
He died in hospital 22 days after the police were called. A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as heart disease with bronchopneumonia. Mr Day described linking his death to the police action as speculation, saying “there is no evidence of a causative link”.
Assistant Coroner Michael Spencer said he would give his decision on reopening the inquest at a later date. PCs Smith and Comotto will face a police disciplinary tribunal next week.
