Man accused of suffocating suspected thief in citizen's arrest tells court he thought he was faking

A man who restrained a suspected thief by kneeling on his back for nine minutes while making a citizen’s arrest believed he was “pretending” to be unconscious, Bristol Crown Court has heard.

Nathan Smith, 38, is accused of the manslaughter of 43-year-old Craig Wiltshire, who suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest when the defendant knelt on his back for nine minutes.

Mr Wiltshire died in hospital on December 4, 2019 - two weeks after the incident.

On day one of the trial on Monday (January 17), the jury heard a man matching Mr Wiltshire’s description had repeatedly attempted to break into cars and tried front doors in the neighbourhood of Smith’s employer in the weeks before the incident.

Despite repeated complaints to the police, the thief was never caught and there was no active police investigation into the attempted break-ins.

The court heard Smith believed Mr Wiltshire was responsible for a number of break-ins and attempted break-ins in his neighbourhood and tackled him to the floor after seeing him on CCTV in the early hours of November 20, 2019.

Smith pinned Craig Wiltshire to the road for 12 minutes with his head twisted to the side until police arrived, and for nine of those minutes was kneeling on his back, the court heard.

On CCTV footage of the incident played in court today (January 18), Mr Wiltshire could be heard telling Smith he cannot breathe. Smith could be heard replying, “I don’t give a f***”.

Smith’s employer Michael Crooks, a man in his 50s, also became involved in the incident, at one point adding his body weight to Mr Wiltshire and threatening to break his arm.

Crooks’ son Ben arrived at the scene by car having been summoned by his father, and kicked Mr Wiltshire twice as he lay on the ground before calling the police.

"We all thought he was pretending"

In footage from a police officer’s body-worn camera played to the jury, Smith can be heard saying: “I grabbed him when he was on the floor. We all thought he was pretending.

“He (the victim) was doing everything he could, he was biting, spitting, trying to kick.”

Smith told the officers he believed he was the person responsible for the break-ins in the area.

On the bodycam footage he can be heard saying “everybody knows he’s been trying to steal stuff out of cars – all he does is he tries car doors".

Police officers also feared Mr Wiltshire was faking unconsciousness, the court heard.

One officer who attended the scene PC Kate Evans said it "happens more than you think".

Resident, Kimberly Lock, said the community had been “terrorised” by the break-ins and had extra locks fitted to her house, including a sliding bolt to her bedroom because she felt "very vulnerable".

Miss Lock said she looked outside her house at around 1.30am to see a "commotion" involving four to five people.

She said when she went outside, she saw a man "with his eyes open" restrained on the floor "with saliva coming out of his mouth and cuts on him".

When asked if she recognised them to be the person responsible for the recent crimes in the area, Miss Lock said "yes".

"He didn't look like a healthy person led on the floor", she said. However, Miss Lock stated she "didn't see anything done by Nathan Smith".

Miss Lock said the defendant was in a "real shaken state, visibly shaking and throwing up on the floor".

Sarah Moore, who lives in the area, told the court she did not believe Smith had used excessive force in the incident.

She said she woke in the early hours to hear a "struggle" outside and saw a man on the floor with the defendant restraining him.

“Nathan was just trying his best to hold him down,” she said.

“I didn't believe I saw anything when Nathan was restraining him that looked to be unreasonable."

The court heard the actions of Ben and Michael Crooks did not cause the death of Mr Wiltshire, and they were not charged with manslaughter.

The trial continues.