Police 'aggressive' before man's cocaine death

A friend of a man who died after a bag of cocaine "exploded" in his mouth during a police arrest has told his inquest that officers who carried out the raid were "erratic" and "aggressive".

Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard three police officers arrived to arrest Chad Allford at his partner's house in Morewood Drive, Alfreton, Derbyshire, on 27 October 2021.

The 23-year-old, from South Normanton, suffered convulsions on the driveway of the property after attempting to swallow the package of white powder.

Ryan Simms, who broke down in tears during his evidence, said: "Since it's happened, it's been a really big trauma, it's been really hard... I see it every night."

The court previously heard although Mr Allford had tried to swallow Class A drugs, the officer making the arrest first called to request police back-up rather than an ambulance.

On Wednesday, Mr Simms told the court he was smoking outside the back of the property when he heard "very loud bangs" at the front door.

He said officers came in "every direction" but he initially did not know they were police until one of them "pinned him up" against the back wall of the property.

He told the jury he managed to break free of the officer and had a look into the kitchen after hearing the commotion.

"They were all around him, I just saw arms and legs from my view, it did not look good to me," he said.

"It was very erratic, there was a lot shouting, from what I could see, I was scared for my friend... they were shouting at him 'spit it out, spit it out'."

The jury was played bodycam footage from an officer who restrained Mr Simms and captured the moment Mr Allford was led from the property by another two officers.

"The last time I saw him [alive] was on that video you have shown... it did not seem like the Chad I knew, he couldn't recognise my voice," Mr Simms said.

During questions from Derbyshire Police's barrister Aaron Rathmell, Mr Simms said he did not know about the cocaine and had no knowledge Mr Allford had the put the substance in his mouth. He added the police were "very aggressive".

The inquest has previously heard PC David Bull was the only officer with Mr Allford when he was first detained and chose not to turn his bodyworn camera on due to the "dynamic nature" of the policing operation.

He also said that turning on the camera was "discretionary" at that time.

PC John Robson, from the Metropolitan Police, who trains officers in safe restraint during arrests, published a report on the incident in which he explained some of his findings to the jury.

Asked if he thought the standards of policing fell short, PC Robson said: "There was nothing that made me think the action fell below the standards.

"Once an object is in the mouth, it's extremely difficult to get it out... they're making decisions in a fraction of a second."

Asked by solicitor Jodie Blackstock, representing the family on whether the bodycam footage should have been turned on for the full incident, PC Robson agreed it should have been on.

He also agreed officers "should not" have put their fingers in Mr Allford's mouth to induce vomiting or to try and retrieve the substances.

A pathology report read to the jury by coroner Susan Evans said Mr Allford had "significant levels" of cocaine in his bloodstream to bring about a cardiac arrest and that the prospect of fatality was "high".

She added the pathologist who compiled the report said it was "highly unlikely that any medical intervention would have saved his life".

The inquest continues.

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