By Our Foreign Correspondent
A jury Wednesday found out that Kelvin Igweani, aged 24, was suffering from a mental health challenge and was lawfully killed by Thames Valley Police on June 26, 2021.
Three Months earlier, in March 2021, Kelvin’s family desperately sought help for him as they recognised that his mental health was rapidly deteriorating.
They contacted services including the police and their General Practice surgery to support Kelvin with his mental health challenges.
The family faced continuous barriers to securing support for him including a lack of/ineffective signposting and restrictions due to GDPR.
Just four days before Kelvin was shot, he personally sought help recognising his mental health was deteriorating.
Instead of being directed to a crisis team he was told he needed to be registered with a General Practitioner. He and his family were left scrambling for help at this crucial time.
The inquest heard evidence which reflected the family’s and Kelvin’s experiences around the limitations in accessing mental health support.
The jury also heard evidence that all those involved, including the police officers who came in contact with Kelvin on the 26 June 2021, recognised that he was in the midst of a severe mental health crisis.
Police were called to Kelvin’s residence where he was tasered within seconds of encountering him at the front door before he escaped into another room.
Officers entered the property and forced entry into the room where Kelvin had barricaded himself. He was shot at four times; two bullets struck him before he was tasered for a second time. He was then throttled and held down by a police officer whilst another stamped on his face with his boots. He was then handcuffed while he lay dying.
At the time that Kelvin was shot he was unarmed, and his hands were visible. There were no life-saving opportunities.
The family would like to make clear that Kelvin had no criminal record and had never been in trouble with police prior to this incident.
Toxicological evidence heard at the inquest found that there was no alcohol or drugs in Kelvin’s system at the time of his death.
Among the jury’s findings were that although Kelvin was lawfully killed, prior to the incident, evidence showed he was suffering from an undiagnosed mental ill health which had been deteriorating over several months.
Attempts by Kelvin’s mother to secure mental health assistance were unsuccessful and that his mental health had spiralled significantly in the four days preceding the incident.
The mother of Kelvin Igweani said: “I tried to get my son the help he needed, instead I was faced with restrictions masked as GDPR or he has no GP. I was not aware of any other avenue to try because I had never been told of any. My son already was suffering with delusions that people were trying to kill him, and on 26th June 2021, he was actually confronted by people with weapons. After being shot, he was tasered a second time and throttled whilst being held down.
One of the officers then proceeded to continuously stamp on his face with his boots on. My son was then handcuffed. All of this as my son lay dying. The handcuffs were only taken off when paramedics asked them to be taken off when they arrived. My son was not armed when officers encountered him in the second room in the property. Both his hands were visible to the officers. The painful events of the morning of 26 June 2021 have affected not just our family but the other families too.”
As one can expect this is an extremely difficult time for all involved and the family request that their privacy is respected during this challenging period.
Any contact should be made to the family’s solicitor Patricia Hampel at [email protected].
Kelvin Igweani’s family is represented by Patricia Hampel of Birnberg Peirce Ltd and Stephen Simblet KC of Garden Court Chambers.
Culled from inquest.org.uk
(This is a media release by Birnberg Peirce Ltd, reshared by INQUEST)
