Mental health patient 'struck over 20 times by police'
A mental health patient restrained in a psychiatric room was struck to his body by police more than 20 times before his death, a misconduct panel has heard.
Healthcare assistant Andrew Kelly saw three officers surround Kingsley Burrell as he was transferred from an ambulance stretcher to a seclusion room.
One of the officers used their fists and baton to strike Walsall father-of-three Mr Burrell ‘numerous times’ as he lay face down on a mattress, he claimed.
Giving evidence at the West Midlands Police hearing, Mr Kelly said: “They were trying to get him to bend his legs.
“An officer struck him on the back of the thigh, first with his fists, and then he had a police baton and was hitting him on the back of the thigh.”
Mr Kelly was working on reception at Birmingham’s Oleaster unit when Mr Burrell was brought in by police and paramedics – three days after he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
The 29-year-old had been transferred from the city’s Mary Seacole facility following a ‘prolonged and violent struggle’ with police after he threatened to harm medics.
He was face down, slightly to his left side and strapped to the stretcher when he arrived, Mr Kelly told the panel.
He added: “He had a blanket on his head. It was white. Intermittently, Mr Burrell was saying things like ‘why are you doing this, I just want to see my kids’.”
Pcs Paul Adey, Mark Fannan and Paul Greenfield deny any wrongdoing when restraining Mr Burrell, or that they lied during his 2015 inquest.
Presenting officer Fiona Barton, acting on behalf of West Midlands Police, previously told the panel the officers claimed they did not see anything covering Mr Burrell’s face.
But Mr Kelly said a paramedic arriving at the unit claimed a covering was placed over Mr Burrell’s head as he had been spitting and biting.
Mr Kelly claimed an officer used his hands to strike Mr Burrell ‘more than 10 times’ and then also used a baton ‘10 times or more’ after police moved him to the room.
Mr Burrell said nothing while this happened, the witness told the hearing on Tuesday. He eventually stopped ‘struggling’, yielding to the officers’ demands.
Mr Kelly, who had been standing by the door of the room, said: “The officers told Mr Burrell to keep calm and not to move.
"They let go of his legs and arms pretty much at the same time and ran out of the room. He was not moving.”
The officers deny they breached standards of professional behaviour by providing a dishonest and misleading account during interview, that they never sought to correct that account and repeated that dishonest account during inquest. They also deny they used force which was inappropriate, unnecessary, and excessive.
The hearing continues.
