19 December 2018 

Sutton Coldfield Police Station

Lichfield Road, Sutton Coldfield B74 2NR

Tuesday 18 December

A West Midlands Police misconduct hearing panel has proven gross misconduct charges against one of three officers involved in the death of Kingsley Burrell. PC Paul Adey has been dismissed for providing dishonest accounts after the death of Kingsley.

The hearing, which opened on 19 November, was intended to examine whether the actions of police officers Paul Adey, 36, Mark Fannon, 45, and Paul Greenfield, 50, breached standards of the use of force, and also honesty and integrity in the processes following Kingsley’s death.

All officers were cleared of using excessive force prior to the death of Kingsley. The charges of breaching honesty and integrity were not proven against Police officers Mark Fannon and Paul Greenfield.

Kingsley, a 29 year old black man from Birmingham, died on 31 March 2011 following a prolonged and brutal restraint by police and a failure by medical staff to provide basic medical care at Queen Elizabeth hospital. An ambulance worker placed a blanket over Kingsley’s head as he lay chest down on a hospital trolley. It remained over his head whilst he was restrained and subjected to baton blows, punches, and strikes by police. The police officers claimed not to have noticed the blanket, and that this was restricting his breathing. They then left Kingsley lying face down and motionless in a locked seclusion room for around 28 minutes, with his trousers about his knees and the blanket still around his head. 

In May 2015, an inquest jury unanimously condemned the police, finding neglect, amidst a raft of other highly critical findings including that police officers lied about the circumstances in which Kingsley was left in seclusion, and that unreasonable force by police contributed to the death.

Kedisha Brown-Burrell, sister of Kingsley said: “It has been an arduous journey for our family. No family should have an untimely death especially when the death is caused by the police. The conduct of these officers, the disregard of Kingsley.

The lack of care and ultimately the lying at the inquest, criminal trial and now this misconduct hearing brings the police into disrepute. Losing their jobs is nothing to my one and only brother losing his life.”

Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST said: “Whilst gross misconduct by one of these officers has been sanctioned, it is incomprehensible that the excessive use of force by all three officers was not proven.

The prolonged and brutal restraint of Kingsley was identified and criticised at the inquest as more than minimally contributing to his death. There is too often a disconnect between inquest findings, evidence heard during investigations, and sanctions received.  

Kingsley was brutalised, neglected and failed by all those who should have been there to protect him. The culture of impunity around the systemic use of force by police must be challenged both at an individual and corporate level. A lack of adequate accountability of both the police and healthcare services in this case frustrates the prevention of abuses of power, ill treatment and institutional change.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information please contact Lucy McKay or Sarah Uncles on 020 7263 1111 or [email protected]  [email protected]

Further information is available on the Justice4Kingsley Campaign page on Facebook.

 

• The first ever full statistics on police use of force published last week reported 15,000 use of force incidents in 2017-18 were recorded in a medical setting.

• Black people were overrepresented as subjects of force, in 12% of incidents but representing only 3.3% of the general population.

• The Mental Health (Use of Force) Bill, known as Seni’s Law received Royal Assent last month. The law will increase protections and oversight on the use of force in mental health settings. 

• Kevin Clarke, Sean Rigg, James Herbert, Olaseni Lewis and Thomas Orchard are examples of those who have died in circumstances involving the use of force and restraint by the police during a mental health crisis.

• The first ever review on deaths in police custody, known as the Angiolini review, was published in October 2017. It made a range of recommendations, including on race, restraint and mental health and policing.

 

Case background:

• On 27 March 2011 Kingsley Burrell was detained by police under the Mental Health Act and forcibly restrained by means of rear cuffs, leg straps and threats of a taser for 4¼ hours.
• 31 March 2011 Kingsley died aged 29.
• 15 May 2015: An inquest into Kingsley’s death concluded after six weeks, with the jury finding neglect contributed to his death, alongside other highly critical findings including that police officers lied about the circumstances in which Kingsley was left in seclusion, and that unreasonable force by police contributed to the death.
• 12 October 2016: It was announced that police officers Paul Adey, Mark Fannon, and Paul Greenfield were to face criminal charges of perjury and perverting the course of justice.
• 4 October 2017: The jury returned a not guilty verdict in the criminal trial of three police officers.
• 19 November 2018: Professional misconduct hearing opened to consider actions of officers.