Donald Burgess, a one-legged wheelchair user, was tasered, hit with a baton and sprayed in the face with PAVA spray after police were summoned to Park Beck Residential Care Home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on June 21, 2022. He died 22 days later.
Police escalation within minutes
The officers had been called after Mr Burgess, who suffered from dementia, refused to drop a small serrated cutlery knife after allegedly prodding a woman with it. Jesse Nicholls, representing Mr Burgess's family, told the hearing that officers PC Stephen Smith and PC Rachel Comotto "very quickly caused a huge escalation" upon arriving at his room.
Within one minute and 14 seconds, PC Comotto had fired her taser at Mr Burgess as he sat in his wheelchair, reports the Express. Mr Nicholls stated: "A substantial amount of that time is taken up by shouting and then screaming at him as he was sitting unmoving in his wheelchair. When he attempts to speak they shout over him so he can't be heard."
Use of baton and PAVA spray
PC Smith then hit Mr Burgess with a baton and sprayed nearly a full can of PAVA spray into his face, the hearing was informed. After being tasered, Mr Burgess was asked how he was feeling and replied: "I'm dying." He was subsequently handcuffed and arrested.
His health worsened and he was moved to hospital, where he received treatment for a urinary tract infection. Despite later being deemed fit for discharge, Park Beck Residential Care Home declined to readmit him.
Death and legal challenge
He remained in the hospital while staff sought another care home that could accommodate him. He subsequently contracted Covid-19 and passed away 22 days after the incident due to a cardiac arrest. A post-mortem identified his cause of death as "bronchial pneumonia with cardiac disease".
Mr Nicholls suggested that the actions of the police officers may have played a part in his death by inducing "physiological stress". He stated: "This is a case where an elderly and vulnerable man was subjected to considerable force by the police officers and would not have been in hospital if that force had not been used."
He contended it was not "sustainable" to propose Mr Burgess died from "natural causes" and challenged Sussex Police's stance that the timing of his death was "coincidental".
Officers acquitted
PC Smith was later charged with two counts of actual bodily harm and PC Comotto with one count. Both officers were acquitted of assault charges following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
During that trial, prosecutor Paul Jarvis KC told jurors the officers had opted to "use force first and ask questions later", arguing that instead of defusing the situation they had exacerbated it and employed unjustified and unlawful force.
East Sussex Coroner Michael Spencer has postponed the hearing and will make a decision on whether to conduct a full inquest.
