Police watchdog investigates officers after suspect stops breathing in Highbury
Aberdeen Park in Highbury was closed after the incident on Tuesday - Credit: Archant
Officers from Islington are under investigation after a suspect stopped breathing when police tried to restrain him.
A 28-year-old man was rushed to hospital and remains in a critical but stable condition after the incident yesterday in Aberdeen Park, Highbury.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has launched a probe into the actions of police, it said today.
Emergency services were called at about 7am to a hostel in Aberdeen Park, where a man was reportedly threatening to kill staff.
Police arrived to find a 28-year-old man bleeding from unknown injuries. Officers restrained him, but he stopped breathing. Officers administered emergency life support before he was taken to hospital.
Police said handcuffs and leg restraints were both used.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “The man was restrained for his, the officers’ and the public’s safety. He developed breathing problems and medical attention was provided by officers pending the arrival of the London Ambulance Service.”
Most Read
- 1 Plan to extend popular Gooners pub with shops and flats
- 2 Disqualified driver jailed after hit-and-run involving Islington schoolgirl
- 3 Revealed: Hackney, Islington and Newham are boroughs with most LTNs
- 4 Travel disruptions: Hackney, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Newham
- 5 Blue Badge exemption and positive results for Canonbury East LTN
- 6 Five appear in court charged with drugs offences after dawn raids
- 7 Holloway BHF pleads for volunteers to help it stay open
- 8 Gun found in car as Met makes 130 arrests during drugs op
- 9 'We've still not had Christmas cards': Royal Mail apologises as post backlog hits Islington
- 10 Archway teacher on trial for 'encouraging terrorism'
Aberdeen Park was closed for much of Tuesday. Police say they are not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident.
A spokesman for the IPCC said: “The IPCC has begun an independent investigation into the actions of Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers who were called to attend a disturbance at a hostel in Islington. The MPS referred the matter on Tuesday afternoon and three IPCC investigators were immediately deployed to the scene to carry out a full assessment of the circumstances and information available.”
