Man 'could have survived if he had been rolled over' during citizen's arrest, court told

A carer who suffocated a suspected burglar during a citizen's arrest could have saved him if he had rolled him over when the man told him he could not breathe, a 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 pinned him to the ground for 12 minutes.

For nine of the 12 minutes Smith was kneeling on Mr Wiltshire's back, and Mr Wiltshire twice said he could not breathe.

Mr Wiltshire was suspected of carrying out a series of car and garage break-ins in a suburb of Bristol where Smith's employer lived.

Smith tackled him to the ground after he was spotted on CCTV cycling around the neighbourhood dressed all in black in the early hours of 20 November 2019.

Mr Wiltshire died in hospital two weeks after the incident , having suffered severe brain damage.

On Thursday (January 20), Professor Jason Payne-James, a specialist in forensic and legal medicine, told Bristol Crown Court that pinning someone face down with their head twisted to the side poses the risk of "positional asphyxia".

Giving evidence for the defence, he said that police officers must only place detainees in a prone position for "as short a time as possible" before rolling them on to their side or sitting them up.

But Prof Payne-James said Mr Wiltshire would have been at greater risk of sudden death due to the fact he had taken the sedative diazepam and the heroin substitute methadone.

He said Mr Wiltshire's slight build and previous scarring to his heart was also a risk, and he did not think that Smith's method of restraint, as a member of the public with no training, was inappropriate.

A 'perfect storm'

But he added: "In terms of the persistence of the prone restraint, I believe that would have been inappropriate if police personnel had continued that for that length of time without moving or monitoring (Mr Wiltshire)."

David Hughes, for Smith, suggested Mr Wiltshire had a "perfect storm" of health issues, and asked Prof Payne-James: "Would you say that position alone was not the primary cause of death."

"No it wasn't," Professor Payne-James replied.

James Ward, prosecuting, said: "(In CCTV) Craig Wiltshire is heard to say 'I can't breathe, I can't breathe' - if Nathan Smith had sat or rolled Craig Wiltshire on to his side, would Craig Wiltshire have survived?"

Prof Payne-James said it was "likely" he would have survived, but suggested it was possible he had suffered cardiorespiratory arrest in the moments before he uttered those words.

Mr Ward pointed out that five minutes later, Mr Wiltshire says "oh my god".

"If five minutes before Nathan Smith had sat him up or rolled him over, would he have stayed alive?"

Prof Payne-James agreed that it was likely that he would have.

The jury has been told it must decide if Smith's use of force was "excessive and unreasonable" and therefore unlawful.