Thomas Orchard inquest: Custody sergeant gives evidence after man dies in police custody in Exeter

A police custody sergeant was never told a thick webbing belt should not be wrapped around the face as a spit or bite guard during restraint, an inquest into the death of a prisoner has heard.

Thomas Orchard, 32, suffered a cardiac arrest after being held down, handcuffed and placed in restraints – with an emergency response belt (ERB) wrapped around his face.

The 32-year-old had been arrested and brought to Devon and Cornwall Police's Heavitree Road custody unit in Exeter when the incident happened in October 2012.

The church caretaker subsequently died in hospital, seven days after being restrained with the ERB.

An inquest into Mr Orchard's death being held at County Hall in Exeter heard that he had paranoid schizophrenia, and was experiencing a mental health crisis when he was arrested in the city centre at 11am on 3 October.

He was arrested after being abusive to members of the public and was dealt with by seven police officers, who restrained his legs and arms before driving him to the custody suite.

After arriving at the unit, the ERB was placed around his head due to concerns about spitting and biting.

Sergeant Jan Kingshott oversaw the custody suite that day and told the inquest Mr Orchard was carried to a cell and placed chest-down on a mattress.

He was then searched while handcuffed, wearing restraints and with the ERB around his face.

The ERB and restraints were then removed, and Mr Orchard was left alone in the locked cell.

But after Mr Orchard had laid motionless on the mattress for 12 minutes, staff reentered the cell and commenced CPR.

Sgt Kingshott: 'There were no limitations mentioned with regard to its use'

Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquest, asked Sgt Kingshott a series of questions about the training he received for using the ERB, which was the only equipment they had to guard against spitting and biting.

“When you had training between 2010 and 2012 was there anything in that training that positively taught you that you shouldn’t be using the ERB in the prone position?” he asked.

“No,” Sgt Kingshott replied.

Mr Moss asked: “Was there anything in that training that positively taught you that the ERB shouldn’t be used in a lift or a carry as a special bite guard?”

Sgt Kingshott replied: “No.”

Mr Moss asked: “If it were to be suggested that the ERB shouldn’t be used at all when somebody was being carried you would disagree and say you were shown that and never told you shouldn’t?”

Sgt Kingshott replied: “Correct.”

Mr Moss said Devon and Cornwall Police had received advice from two doctors who raised “significant reservations” about the use of the ERB as a spit or a bite guard.

“Were you ever told about that?” he asked.

The witness replied: “I have no knowledge of that at all and we were never told that.”

Asked about what he was told in training about the medical implications of using the ERB, Sgt Kingshott said: “There was nothing suggested at the time.

“There were no time limits mentioned, there were no… it was just said do not put it tightly.

“So as long as it was held loosely and used for that purpose there were no limitations mentioned with regard to its use.”

Asked whether he was ever told during training the ERB should not be used around the head, Sgt Kingshott said: “I don’t recall it specifically being mentioned that that was the case, but it was implied in the way it was taught.”

Mr Moss asked: “If you are ‘holding it loosely’ you should be using it, so you took that as being implicit in the training?”

“Yes,” Sgt Kingshott replied.

Police 'did not record' Mr Orchard's mental health as a cause of his behaviour

The inquest heard the custody record for Mr Orchard recorded drink and or drugs as a possible cause of his behaviour, which Sgt Kingshott accepted as a criticism but said it was “not a reflection of my thought processes”.

“Ultimately, I did not know why he was behaving the way he was. All options were on the table,” he told the court.

“I accept on here I did not record the mental health aspect.”

He said he watched Mr Ochard be searched in his cell and did not see any visible signs of him being distress. He added he would have stopped the search if he had.

After being discovered unconscious in his cell, the emergency services were called and Mr Orchard was taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where he died on October 10.

Sgt Kingshott and civilian detention officers Simon Tansley and Michael Marsden were acquitted of manslaughter by gross negligence following a trial in 2017.

Later, the office of the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Police pleaded guilty to breaches under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

In the health and safety case, a judge ruled they could not be sure that the ERB was a contributory factor in Mr Orchard’s death.

The inquest continues.