Kevin Clarke had plans, according to his family. He wanted to get his life back on track, resume his work as a football coach and become a painter and decorator.
Instead he died after restraint by police on the edge of a muddy playing field in Catford, south London, on a cold day in March 2018.
In police body-cam footage of the incident, Clarke can be heard saying: “I can’t breathe … I’m going to die.” An inquest into his death at Southwark coroner’s court on Friday found that the way in which police restrained him contributed to his death.
It is clear from speaking to his mother, Wendy Clarke, 55, and his sister, Tellecia Strachan, 26, how loved he was and how popular.
“He was always bubbly and cheerful,” said Strachan. “He loved talking and he had a great sense of humour. When we were growing up he made everyone laugh.”
He was keen on football and supported Manchester United. Strachan said his aim was to reduce his schizophrenia medication and “get better”.
Wendy Clarke said her son would relapse about once every six months and become quieter and less responsive to those around him, but was never violent to family members.
The family were shown the police body-cam footage of Clarke’s final hours soon after his death, long before the death of George Floyd in the US. At the time of Floyd’s death the footage relating to Clarke had not been made public but Floyd’s death had a chilling resonance for Clarke’s family.
“Seeing what happened to George Floyd brought back everything that happened to Kevin,” said Wendy Clarke. “I was having nightmares for weeks.”
Strachan said: “I couldn’t watch the George Floyd footage, it was too painful because of what happened to Kevin.”
But she said that despite the distress and grief of watching the police footage relating to Clarke, she took comfort from seeing him alive again. “It felt so good just to see my brother again standing in the street.”
On Friday, the jury at Southwark crown court concluded that Clarke’s cause of death was an acute behavioural disturbance in a relapse of schizophrenia, leading to exhaustion and cardiac arrest, contributed to by restraint and struggle. They found London ambulance service failed to provide basic medical care and that the police restraint was not appropriate.
Strachan condemned the police and paramedics entrusted with her brother’s care. “There was no leadership that day. All of them, every one of them, let Kevin down. There were so many missed chances to save Kevin’s life. After we were told Kevin had died it was so terrible not being able to touch my brother, not being able to hold him, because his body was being ‘protected’ by the police.”
Wendy Clarke said there had been too many cases similar to her son’s. “I don’t want to hear of any more cases like this one. Lessons need to be learned. Let Kevin’s case be the last.”
In a statement after the inquest verdict, Wendy Clarke said her son was a loving, kind, caring person who always looked out for others. “But those involved in his death saw him as the stereotyped big black violent mentally unwell man.
“Kevin was restrained unnecessarily and with disproportionate force. There was a lack of engagement, communication and urgency by all those who owed him a duty of care … My son lost his life because of a number of missed chances by the mental health team, the accommodation provider, the police and paramedics who all stood by and let Kevin die.”
The London ambulance service said it deeply regretted there were significant shortcomings in its response and said it would learn from the jury’s findings. The Met police apologised for the failings identified by the jury and said it would carefully consider its observations.
