No officers from Greater Manchester police will face disciplinary action over the death of a man after he was shot with a stun gun.
Jordon Begley, 23, died in hospital of cardiac arrest in July 2013, two hours after being shot and restrained by police officers who had been called to his home following an argument with his neighbours.
In a statement on Thursday evening, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) concluded that one officer “may have breached professional standards of behaviour in relation to their use of force”, but that they had since left the police.
Greater Manchester police confirmed that another five officers involved in the incident were back on unrestricted duties.
The IOPC initially cleared Greater Manchester police of any blame in Begley’s death, but in August 2016 the watchdog made the unprecedented move of quashing its own report and launching a fresh investigation.
This came after an inquest jury concluded in July 2015 that the use of a stun gun was “not reasonable” and that failings by police officers had contributed to the young man’s death.
Ian Todd, the deputy director general of the IOPC, said he met Begley’s mother, Dorothy, on Thursday to update her on the latest investigation.
“We have reviewed all of the evidence from the original case and assessed this evidence against what was given during the inquest,” he said. “The re-investigation was completed by a team with no previous involvement in the original investigation.
“We examined the actions of six Greater Manchester police officers and my view is that one former officer may have breached the professional standards of behaviour in relation to their use of force.
“We have shared our provisional findings with the force and will wait for their response and any other outstanding matters, before we publish our report. Our thoughts remain with Dorothy and her family.”
Stu Berry, the GMP Federation chairman, welcomed the IOPC’s conclusions, but criticised the length of time it had taken. “The IOPC has to appreciate the impact these ridiculously long investigations have on police officers, their families and the communities we serve,” he said.
Speaking to the BBC, Dorothy Begley described the investigation as “a whitewash” and said: “Five years later, I’m still fighting for him. I’ve never been this angry in my life,” she said. “Where do I go from here? They kept us in the dark hoping that it will go away – it’s not going to go away.”
While the jury in the 2015 inquest concluded that police may have believed Begley was 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 Jordon 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.”
