WIREDGOV

The IPCC investigation into the actions of police officers prior to the death of Gabriel Frapiccini found that officers acted in line with their training and were not responsible for Mr Frapiccini’s death.

Mr Frapiccini died in hospital on 9 October 2015 having been restrained by both members of the public and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers shortly before.

A HM Coroner inquest last week returned a finding of accidental death.

Police officers arrived at the Holloway Road at around 11pm on 8 October 2015 where Mr Frapiccini was already being restrained by members of the public following an alleged assault on a member of the public. The actions of the members of the public were the subject of a separate MPS investigation.

Officers who arrived on the scene took over the restraint of Mr Frapiccini but very quickly noticed he was unresponsive and commenced CPR. An ambulance arrived and took Mr Frapiccini to hospital where he later died. Evidence was obtained from CCTV footage, officers’ statements and interviews with members of the public.

The investigation found the actions of the officers attending the scene were reasonable in the circumstances and in line with their training and that the officers made a sustained and prolonged attempt to sustain and revive Mr Frapiccini.

Although a post-mortem identified that restraint and struggling contributed to the cause of death, there appeared to be no evidence that shows that this was a result of the police interaction with Mr Frapiccini.

IPCC Commissioner Jennifer Izekor said:

“Mr Frapiccini’s death was tragic and we have been in contact with his family who we know have been deeply affected by his loss. Our thoughts remain with them, however our investigation showed that the MPS officers who attended the scene acted appropriately and did all they could to try and save Mr Frapiccini. They therefore did not contribute in anyway to his death.”

A copy of the final investigation report can be found here