Deaths in Custody
Date of request: 10 March 2021
Reference: 289/21
Request
- How many police officers have been charged and subsequently prosecuted in connection with a death in police custody in England and Wales since January 1st 1990? (We are defining a death in custody as a death occurring during or directly resulting from contact with the police).
- In cases where officers have been charged and subsequently prosecuted in connection with a death in custody, are the ethnicities of those who have died in custody recorded, and if so, how many of them are recorded as non-white?
- Can you provide the names and any details of cases where officers have been charged and subsequently prosecuted in connection with a death in custody of an individual recorded as black? (We are defining black as those of African or Caribbean heritage including mixed race people of African or Caribbean heritage).
- Of the charges and subsequent prosecutions of police officers in connection with a death in police custody of any black person in England and Wales since January 1st 1990, how many of these prosecutions have ended successfully in obtaining convictions?
Response
Due to our retention policy we have only been able to carry out a search from 2011 up to present day where an officer has been charged and subsequently prosecuted for a custody related death.
This search has returned zero results. We are therefore unable to provide any further information in relation to questions two, three and four.
In addition we have recorded zero deaths having occurred in an Avon and Somerset Constabulary custody unit for the last five years.