WIREDGOV

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to investigate the treatment in custody of a man arrested by Lancashire Police after he was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical but stable condition.

On 1 November 2014 at approximately 4am Lancashire police responded to a number of telephone calls reporting an ongoing street disturbance in Ribbleton, Preston.

Officers attended and found a man apparently unconscious at the scene.  Paramedics also attended and the man was subsequently arrested, and taken to a Preston police station.

While in custody the man began to complain of painful headaches, medical assistance was requested by officers and later that afternoon an ambulance was called to take him to hospital.

Lancashire Police referred the incident to the IPCC who have declared an independent investigation. The investigation will look at the how the man was treated by the police at the scene of the disturbance, police communication with paramedics at the scene and how he was subsequently dealt with by custody staff. It will also look at whether he should have been taken to hospital initially rather than to the police station.

IPCC Commissioner Carl Gumsley said:

“My thoughts are with this gentleman’s family at this difficult time.  The IPCC will be conducting a thorough investigation and will carefully examine the interaction police had with this man in the street and in the police station. A situation where a man ended up in a critical condition is a very serious matter and it is vital that we establish how he was dealt with by the police.”

This investigation will not seek to establish the surrounding circumstances of how the man came to be at the scene of an alleged disturbance or how he may have received any potential injuries prior to police attendance.