|
Claire Watson has represented the Metropolitan Police in a high profile Article 2 inquest into the death of Paul Coker in August 2005. He was a young black man who died from cocaine intoxication and a variant of a syndrome known as excited delirium. At the end of the 6 ½ week long inquest, the jury concluded that the police officers had acted reasonably in their contact with Mr Coker but considered that their training on excited delirium over emphasized the symptoms to be expected and did not reflect accurately the full spectrum of symptoms presented by people suffering from excited delirium. The jury also found that there was an inadequate pooling of information and failures to communicate effectively among police officers, staff and the police doctor. They stated that it was not possible to determine whether the outcome would have been affected by these matters. Claire was instructed by John Bergin at the Metropolitan Police Directorate of Legal Services.
|