The police watchdog has overturned its own decision regarding the death of a man in Manchester who was Tasered by police.
Jordan Begley, 23, died in hospital of cardiac arrest in July 2013, two hours after being shot with a stun gun and restrained by police officers who had been called to his home following a row with his neighbours.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) initially cleared Greater Manchester police of any blame in Begley’s death, but in an unprecedented move the watchdog has been granted a judicial review to quash its own report into the incident.
An inquest into the factory worker’s death, held in July last year, concluded that the use of a Taser was “not reasonable” and that failings by police officers had contributed to the young man’s death.
An IPCC spokesman said: “At the coroner’s inquest into the death of Jordan Begley concerns were raised about the conduct of the officers involved that may not have been consistent with the IPCC’s findings.
“In light of this, the IPCC reviewed its investigation and decided to seek permission to quash its independent investigation report in order to ensure all the available evidence could be considered.
“In order to do this a judicial review was required. The IPCC has now been informed that permission has been granted for the judicial review and we await a date for the hearing. This is the first time the IPCC has applied to judicially review an independent investigation.”
While the jury in the inquest concluded that police may have believed Begley to be carrying a knife that could be used to injure himself and others, they said the officer “inappropriately used the Taser by holding the trigger down longer so that it was deployed for over eight seconds, which is not reasonable use in the circumstances”.
The inquest verdict read: “Once on the floor the firearms officers did not try to establish whether he was conscious, [and] ignored the fact that he did not cry out or make any verbal sounds at all.
“During restraint Jordan offered minimal resistance – there was no need to punch twice without even checking his first response to the first punch. No firearms officer took control of the head.”
The move comes after North Wales police referred itself to the IPCC on Tuesday when a 24-year-old man was left in a critical condition following the discharge of a police Taser in Conwy, North Wales.
