Police Pay Out £310,000 Negligence Compensation To Man Who Nearly Died Following Arrest
Police negligence case
West Yorkshire Police Force has agreed to pay £310,000 in negligence compensation in an out-of-court settlement to a man who was arrested and mistakenly assumed drunk whilst he was suffering a blood clot on his brain and a delay in obtaining medical attention led to permanent disabilities and near death.
David Powell of Leeds, who was aged 39 years old at the time, now requires 24 hour total physical care and lives in a residential home in Lincolnshire where he is wheelchair bound. He will never be able to work again.
He was arrested on 17 July 1998 outside his home in Headingley, Leeds, after a neighbour reported that a young man who lived in her building had either fallen down some steps or just fallen down at the bottom of the steps but did not know. When Officers from West Yorkshire Police Force arrived at the scene, they assumed wrongly that Mr Powell was drunk and arrested him, ignoring an obvious head wound.
When he was taken to Weetwood Police Station in Leeds, he was kept in custody for an hour and a half before Mr Powell collapsed again and almost died. He was rushed to hospital where it was found he had a blood clot near his brain, but because of the Police’s delay in obtaining medical treatment this was diagnosed too late and he has been left with a serious brain injury.
His mother, Mrs Barbara Powell of Oldbury, West Midlands, said:
“I am appalled at the behaviour of West Yorkshire Police. The least they could have done for my son was to call a Police surgeon whilst he was in custody. This could have prevented the serious injuries he now has and medical evidence has clearly stated that this would have lead to only very minor disabilities if treatment had been received earlier.”
Police were negligent
Iftikhar Manzoor, of national law firm Irwin Mitchell, represented Mr Powell. He said:
“This is a horrific and tragic case where, if the Police had followed their own codes and guidelines, they could have prevented serious and permanent brain injury. Instead, they assumed Mr Powell was drunk, placed him into a cell and failed to obtain the immediate medical attention which he clearly required.
“When the Police arrested Mr Powell they noted he had a bloody nose from the fall which caused the blood clot on his brain, but the injury was not treated as seriously by the Police as it should have been. He was not seen by a Police doctor immediately nor taken to hospital, as the Police’s codes and regulations require, until after he had collapsed again in the Police cell and struck his head a second time. By this time it was too late.
“When the Police sent him to Leeds General Infirmary he needed immediate surgery to alleviate the massive blood clot pressing against his brain.
“West Yorkshire Police were negligent because they arrested Mr Powell, with an obvious head injury, but failed to ensure he was examined and properly treated.
“Although West Yorkshire Police have denied the accusations they have agreed to compensate Mr Powell £310,000 for his injuries and in regard to lost income.”