Update on Istiak Yusuf death in custody investigation

26 Aug 2015 01:11 PM

Mr Yusuf was arrested by Bedfordshire Police officers at an address in Luton at 8:47am on Saturday 13 June 2015 and taken into custody. He subsequently became unresponsive in his cell and died at the scene.

An IPCC independent investigation was declared at 1:45pm and IPCC investigators were deployed to Luton Police Station to begin collecting evidence. They also attended the post incident procedure during which officers provided initial accounts.

A post mortem was carried out on Sunday 14 June and witnessed by an independent doctor from the local community. The preliminary report has shown no indication of  physical contact as a potential cause for death and no evidence of any restraint.

The Inquest is scheduled for December 2015. Subject to change, the investigation is expected to be concluded shortly prior to the inquest.

IPCC investigators have recovered CCTV of Mr Yusuf's time in custody, including when he was being booked in and his time in a cell. They have also received initial accounts from officers and staff members who were present.

Since Mr Yusuf's death we have met with Mr Yusuf's wife and family several times to update them on the progress of our investigation.

The investigation is focussing on the adequacy of searches conducted when Mr Yusuf was arrested and later booked into custody and the adequacy of cell checks conducted during Mr Yusuf’s time in custody.

All CCTV has been reviewed and a number of police witnesses and independent witnesses have been interviewed.

Five police officers and three detention officers have been served with misconduct notices. One of these notices is for gross misconduct.

Four of these notices are in relation to the potential inadequacy of any search conducted by arresting and transporting officers on Mr Yusuf upon arrest and at custody. The three notices to detention officers are in relation to potential inadequacy of cell checks. A notice has been served to the custody sergeant in respect of his role in overseeing the search and cell check.

The three detention officers attended misconduct interviews last week.

NB: The above information was provided to a community group ahead of a meeting on the evening of Wednesday 26 August that the IPCC was unable to attend.