Independent Police Complaints Commission
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Man loses tops of fingers whilst detained by Essex Police

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating an incident in which a man lost the tops of three fingers while detained by Essex Police.

On Thursday 30 April the 33-year-old man was arrested and taken to Colchester Police Station. In the early hours of Friday morning (1 May) a number of officers entered the man’s cell. At the time the man was standing with one foot in the toilet bowl.

The man held on to the rim on the metal toilet bowl in the cell and up to six officers were then involved in his restraint. During the incident the tops of three of the man’s fingers on his left hand were severed and the man was taken to hospital for treatment. The tops of the fingers were later recovered from inside the toilet and transported to hospital.

The IPCC investigation is looking at the appropriateness of restraint used by officers, including whether the officers’ actions contributed to the man’s injuries and whether any first aid was provided before he was taken to hospital. The investigation will consider whether the man’s mental health or ethnicity influenced the actions of officers involved in the incident, and examine why there was a delay of around five hours to retrieve and transport the severed fingertips to hospital and a delay of around seven hours in referring the matter to the IPCC.

 

Channel website: https://policeconduct.gov.uk/

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