REPORT CLEARS POLICE IN CUSTODY DEATH CASE

An investigation has found police officers treated a woman who died in custody in hospital, in line with policies and procedures.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigated the case of Anastasia Theofilou, 36, who became unwell in a cell at Charles Cross custody suite in Plymouth in July 2020.

CPR was administered by custody staff and a healthcare practitioner.

She was taken to hospital, where she died the following morning.

The IOPC said a small plastic bag containing traces of white powder was later found by hospital staff concealed internally on her person.

A post mortem concluded she had died due to the effects of cocaine.

Ms Theofilou was strip-searched on her arrival in custody, and the IOPC's investigation found no evidence Ms Theofilou was either under the influence of drugs or that she had concealed any item internally at the booking in stage.

It said during Ms Theofilou's time in custody, staff checked on her at regular intervals.

A detention officer noticed Ms Theofilou appeared to be experiencing a seizure when reviewing the CCTV feeds around four minutes after their previous visit to the cell, the IOPC said.

It added an ambulance was called promptly, and a healthcare professional attended swiftly to assist in providing treatment.

After the arrival of the ambulance service, police officers and staff helped carry out CPR. A detention officer further assisted by performing chest compressions on Ms Theofilou on the journey to hospital.

'A tragic case'

IOPC regional director David Ford said: "This was a tragic case and I send my condolences to Ms Theofilou's family and everyone affected by her death.

"Intimate searches are extremely intrusive and a very significant step when balancing the risk to a detained person versus the need to respect their human rights and dignity."

He said the relevant code of practice did not "allow or envisage intimate searches be conducted as a matter of course purely based on a history of drug use", adding they should only be carried out with the informed consent of the detainee.

"We did not find any evidence in the manner of Ms Theofilou's presentation which justified an intimate search, taking into account police decision-making was based on what was known to officers at the time," Mr Ford added.

He said the evidence showed the medical interventions by police officers and staff were "timely and appropriate" but were "unfortunately unable to prevent the sad outcome."

Follow BBC Devon on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Follow BBC Cornwall on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

2024-04-26T12:29:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd