Legal News

Leon Briggs was a kind and loyal family man. On Monday 5th November he was in Luton town centre when members of the public raised concerns about his behaviour to police. He was arrested and detained under S136 of the Mental Health Act at Luton police station. While in custody Leon fell ill and was taken to Luton and Dunstable Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An investigation has been launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). IPCC commissioner, Mary Cunneen, said that following their initial review of the evidence they will be proceeding with a criminal investigation. She also made it clear that the investigation is in its early stages and it is important not to pre-judge findings.

To date, the investigations have indicated that more one criminal offence may have taken place, which could form a case for a crime lawyer to deal with in court. The offences include gross negligence and/or unlawful act manslaughter, misconduct in a public office and/or other offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. CCTV at the point of arrest and from the police cell is being reviewed.

Mary Cunneen concluded by saying: "we will also be considering whether any potential disciplinary offences have been committed."

Briggs’ family are obviously shocked at his sudden death and have issued a statement: “Leon was a loving father, son and brother. He was a kind, loyal, intelligent, caring person who put his family and others first.”

His family are devastated by what has happened and naturally want answers to their many questions. Why did the police arrest him and what happened to him while in police custody? The very people who have a duty to protect the public appear to have failed in that respect in the most complete way possible.”

His family have requested that their privacy is respected while they grieve the loss of a family member.”

There are indications that Leon Briggs had some mental health problems; however, the condition he has is not currently known and it is not known what caused the police to arrest him and hold him under the Mental Health Act. In a written statement his family said: “Leon was unwell and needed specialist help, instead the police forcefully restrained him and he died in police custody.”

Local residents have arranged a community emergency meeting and are using a Facebook page to raise awareness. Liberty Louise, a Facebook user, posted on the page: “Last conviction for a death in police custody was 1969....so in 44 years no officer has been found guilty!”

According to the IPCC, there were 5,998 deaths in police custody during the 11 years from 2000 to 2010. Of these, 3,628 people were detained under the Mental Health Act.

66% of all deaths in custody are classified as due to natural causes; 71% of these individuals were detained under the Mental Health Act.

There appears to be a disproportionate number of people dying of natural causes while detained in police custody for mental health reasons. It seems unlikely that mental health problems should cause so many deaths and it is inevitable that there should be questions about what is happening in our police stations.

Duncan Lewis is able to provide legal aid for individuals who have been unfairly detained under the mental health act.