IOPC investigation begins following death of man in Bolton

9 Oct 2026 02:08 PM

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating following the death of a 43-year-old man in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

The man died in hospital in the early hours of this morning (8 October) following contact with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers last night.

IOPC Director of Engagement Amanda Rowe said: “Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends, and all those affected by his death.

“It’s important that an independent investigation is carried out when someone has died following an interaction with police officers, we need to independently establish the exact circumstances of this incident, the actions of the officers involved and all previous contact prior to his death.

“Our investigation is in the early stages but investigators have secured body worn video which will be reviewed along with the initial statements obtained from officers.”

Our initial enquiries indicate the man was suffering from a mental health crisis and the force had been called to the property on previous occasions prior to last night.

On each occasion, access to the property was refused by the man and he had not engaged with officers who had attended.

At approximately 11.10pm on Wednesday evening, GMP officers attended the property and forced entry after they received a report of the man threatening to harm himself.

An initial review of body-worn video showed that upon gaining entry to the property, officers found the man injured and he appeared to be bleeding heavily. The man refused to drop a pair of scissors he was holding.

A short time later, an officer discharged a taser and the man was restrained. Shortly before midnight, the man lost consciousness and stopped breathing, at which point officers began  CPR.

The man was taken to hospital but despite medical treatment, he was sadly pronounced dead at 3.01am.

After being notified by the force we sent investigators to the scene and the post-incident procedure to begin gathering information. We declared an independent investigation at 3.07am.