Police Misconduct
The inquest into the death of a man, know by the police as presenting a suicide risk will open on February 18 at Wakefield Coroner's Court.
Expected to last two weeks, the inquest will investigate a number of key concerns surrounding the death of Adrian Coldwell who was found partly suspended by a cord from his track suit bottoms in a cell in Pontefract police station in December 2004.
Adrian had been arrested twice and taken to the police station as a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.
His family have highlighted concern about aspects of his care whilst he was in custody that include why Adrian was apparently given prescription drugs by non-medically qualified police staff and whether a written error in taking his name led to police not having access to his records of mental health issues.
Ifti Manzoor, an Associate at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors specialises in Actions against the Police. He said: "This is clearly a tragic case and the inquest will explore the circumstances leading to the death in custody and what, if any steps could and should have taken to prevent this death.
"An immediate concern is why The cord in his track suit bottoms was not taken away and were the police aware of his previous mental health problems."