News Articles

Original Article can be read here at: Evening Standard.com

Peter Dominiczak and Katie Linsell 15.09.10

The family of a student who died after he was forcibly restrained by up to seven police officers at a psychiatric hospital today called for a “rigorous, far-reaching investigation”.

Olaseni Lewis, 23, from South Norwood, collapsed and slipped into a coma after his airways were restricted at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham on August 31.

Inquest, an organisation speaking on behalf of the Kingston University student’s family, today called his death “deeply disturbing”.

The incident, which is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, only came to light following inquiries by the Evening Standard. It emerged today that Mr Lewis had no history of mental illness but had suddenly started “behaving strangely”.

He was “alternating between calm and agitated phases”, his family said, prompting them to take him to the psychiatric hospital.

Mr Lewis, who was taking a Master’s degree in IT and business management, was then admitted as a vulnerable voluntary patient.

But within hours of leaving him, Mr Lewis is said to have become violent and staff called in police to restrain him, a normal practice at the hospital. However, nurses are said to have been “horrified” at the way officers acted when they arrived.

The Standard has been told that several nurses who witnessed the incident later logged it as a “violent restraint”, meaning they thought inappropriate force was used.

Mr Lewis’s mother, Ajibola, 60, a lawyer who was born in Nigeria, has been left “utterly devastated” by her son’s death. His father, Conrad, an engineer who is separated from Mr Lewis’s mother, paid tribute to his son, who was known as Seni.

He wrote on Facebook, alongside a photograph of him: “This [is] my son Seni Lewis, 23-years-old with a master’s in ICT & management, he died September 3. And [I] also lost my father, his grandfather, on September 7. May their souls rest easy.”

One of Mr Lewis’s neighbours, who did not want to be named, said: “Seni was a lovely kid. He was always smiling, always saying hello to everyone. There was never any trouble with him at all. He was just focused on his degree.”

The IPCC said: “Police restrained Mr Lewis at the request of hospital staff. During the restraint Mr Lewis became passive and it then became apparent that he was seriously unwell.”

An ambulance was called and Mr Lewis was given first aid. Croydon University Hospital confirmed he was brain-dead on September 3, and his life support was turned off the next day.

No officers were suspended or placed on restricted duties after the incident. Hospital chiefs have launched a separate inquiry.

Deborah Coles, of Inquest, said: “This is a deeply disturbing death and it is vital both for the family and the public that there is a rigorous, far-reaching investigation.”

Scotland Yard said it could not comment because the case had been referred to the IPCC.

A post-mortem examination was inconclusive and toxicology tests are being carried out.

Original Article can be read here at: Black Mental Health UK

By Zephaniah Samuels 21/09/10

A host of community activists, health campaigners and church leaders have voiced their outrage at the news of the death of a 23 year old student who lost his life after being restrained of by a team of seven police officers on a psychiatric ward in South London.

End use of prone restraint

Olaseni Lewis lost his life on the same day that Colin Holt a 57 year old black service users also suffered fatal injuries after police went to his home on the 31st of August this year.

These deaths have led to calls for an end to the use of prone restraint on mental health service users and for all mental health providers to phase out the use of calling police to deal with internal incidences within psychiatric settings.

‘It is a shock to learn of this young man's death, and my rage is at the fact that it is happening so often. i can't understand in the 21st century how any community can be treated like this, Bishop Llewellyn Graham, Church of God of Prophesy told Black Mental Health UK.

‘The again shows that system is not working. Rather than spending billions on medication investment should be made in devising more humane intervention when dealing with people who need help. We need to come to a place where there is no restraint in the 21st century we should be able to find other techniques which aren't killing people,' Rev Paul Grey, service user activist said.

These recent deaths have again highlighted the urgency of the need to change how black mental health service users are treated.

‘Olaseni Lewis and Colin Holt are sadly just the latest in a long line of service users who have lost their lives in this way. There is a need for a radical shift in how people from our communities are perceived and treated by those who are paid to care for them. We also need to see full accountability when a death occurs before we will see a change in this arena,' Matilda MacAttram director of Black Mental Health UK said.

Masters student in IT and business management

Olaseni, known to his family as Seni, was a second year Masters student studying IT and Business Management at Kingston University. Although he had no prior history of mental illness on Sunday 31st August Seni's family and friends noticed that he was behaving strangely, alternating between calm and agitated phases.

They sought professional help, which resulted in him being admitted as a vulnerable voluntary patient at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham early in the evening of Tuesday 31 August.

Just hours after leaving the hospital Seni was reported to have become agitated and staff called the police to restrain him. Nurses say that they were horrified at the way officers behaved when they arrived.

Up to seven Met officers proceeded to pin Seni down, and it is believed that he then slipped into a coma after his airway became restricted while at the Bethlam Royal Hospital.

The young man was then taken by ambulance to Mayday Hospital and confirmed brain dead on September 3, his life support was turned off the following day.

No officers have been suspended or placed on restricted duties after the incident, and hospital chiefs at Bethlem have confirmed that they are launching a separate inquiry. Nursing staff who witness the incident after calling the police logged the incident as a ‘violent restraint', meaning that they thought that unnecessary forced had been used.

‘I don't understand why you need seven people to restrain one 23 year old young man – if he was ill and animated – give him a sedative or something. The hospital calling the police makes them culpable because if they hadn't called him he'd still be alive,' Deborah Gabriel lecturer and editor of People With Voices said.

‘It is quite tragic that another young black men has been cut down in his prime by the agencies we expect to protect us. We would have hoped with all the resources and time that has been spent on this matter, that these failings in the system would have been addressed by now,' Olu Alake president of 100 Black Men of London said.

Failure to implement Bennett Inquiry recommendations leading to patient deaths

These recent deaths have highlighted the failure of the million pound Delivering Race Equality Programme, which was rolled out in response to the David Bennett Inquiry report. Back in 1998, Bennett sadly lost his life after he was restrained by a team of up to five nurses for over 25 minutes.

Recommendations set out in the Bennett Inquiry report in order to prevent any more tragic deaths of black men detained under the Mental Health Act. They included ensuring that no patient be restrained in the prone position for more than 3 minutes after. Health campaigners question why 12 years after Bennett's death no progress has been made in this area.

‘To hear that anyone in psychiatric care dies as a result of what are supposed to be therapeutic intervention is appalling. The death of Seni Lewis should not have happen in this day and age. Sadly this is price that black people pay for the failure to implement the recommendation of the Rocky Bennett inquiry,' Prof Sashi Sashidaran, consultant psychiatrist and panel member on the David Bennett Inquiry.

‘What is obvious and clear is that nothing has changed since the David Bennett inquiry in reality. We had a similar situation with one of our own service users here in Wolverhampton so we know that this kind of treatment that is resulting in patient deaths. It begs the question, how many others has this happened to that we are not even aware of,' Alicia Spence services director at the African Caribbean Community Initiative (ACCI) said.

The original article can be read at: Evening Standard.com

Felix Allen and Peter Dominiczak 14.09.10

The police watchdog launched an investigation today into the death of a psychiatric patient after he was forcibly restrained by up to seven Met officers.

Olaseni Lewis, 23, believed to be from South Norwood, is thought to have slipped into a coma after his airways were restricted at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham.

He never regained consciousness and died four days later in intensive care at the Mayday hospital in Croydon.

Today the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it is to investigate the man's contact with police at the Bethlem on August 31.

The incident has only just come to light following enquiries by the Evening Standard.

A post-mortem examination into the cause of the man's death is believed to have been inconclusive. Police sources said officers had been called to deal with a violent patient. He collapsed and officers gave first aid and attempted to revive him. No officers were suspended or placed on restricted duties as a result of the incident.

Mr Lewis is understood to have been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Police in Bromley were called by the hospital staff to help restrain him when he turned violent, a normal practice. However, nurses are said to have been “horrified” at the way the police acted when they arrived.

The Standard has been told several nurses who witnessed the incident later logged it as a “violent restraint”, meaning they thought inappropriate force was used.

A hospital source said: “Staff have been told not to say anything about what happened but everyone who saw it was very concerned. Because of the outrage in the hospital as to the way the police conducted themselves, there was a meeting [about the case].”

Scotland Yard said it could not comment because the case had been referred to the IPCC.

Hospital bosses have launched a separate inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death.

A spokesman for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust said: “A patient receiving treatment at the Bethlem Royal Hospital was transferred to Croydon University Hospital on August 31 for urgent medical treatment and sadly passed away on the evening of Saturday September 4.

“We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased. The Trust is investigating the incident as a priority and is working closely with the police. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”

The IPCC said Mr Lewis had been a patient at the hospital for just a few hours when staff called police because a patient was causing a disturbance: “Police restrained Mr Lewis at the request of hospital staff. During the restraint Mr Lewis became passive and it then became apparent that he was seriously unwell.”

An ambulance was called and Mr Lewis was given first aid. Croydon University Hospital confirmed brain-stem death on September 3, and his life support was turned off the next day.

IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: “I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult this must be for this young man's family. The IPCC is looking into the police response to determine whether or not it was proportionate and reasonable in all the circumstances.”

A post-mortem examination was inconclusive and toxicology tests are now being carried out.

The original article can be read at: UK Govt Hansard Record

On Tuesday 19th October Lord Ouseley (crossbench) asked in the House of Lords

The response came from Baroness Neville-Jones, the Minister of State for Security (Home Office, Conservative)

The exchange can be viewed on the official Hansard website.

Watch this space, we will post more information here as it comes

To read the original article in full see: The Morning Star Website

Thursday 16 September 2010 by Paddy McGuffin

Human rights campaigners have said that serious questions must be asked after the deaths of two mental health patients in a matter of days following police restraint.

Olaseni Lewis, a 23-year-old student from south London, and 52-year-old Colin Holt from Gillingham were both restrained by police in separate incidents on August 31 this year.

Mr Holt collapsed and died after being restrained by officers at his home while Mr Lewis suffered fatal injuries having been restrained by up to eight police officers at Bethlem Royal Hospital in Bromley.

While the details of Mr Holt's death are unclear it is understood he left the hospital where he had been sectioned and returned home. Hospital staff had then called the police who entered his flat and restrained him.

Mr Lewis is the latest in a series of young black men to have died in similar circumstances. Other high-profile cases include those of Sean Rigg who died in police custody in Brixton in 2008 and Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police in a psychiatric institution in 1999.

A student at Kingston University, Mr Lewis had no history of mental illness but a few days before his death his family and friends noticed that he was behaving erratically and sought professional help.

He was admitted as a vulnerable voluntary patient at the Bethlem Royal Hospital on the evening of August 31. Within hours he collapsed after being restrained by police officers who had been called by hospital staff. He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead on September 4.

A spokesman for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, which has responsibility for Bethlem hospital, said it was investigating the incident as a priority.

Inquest co-director Deborah Coles said restraint-related deaths were disproportionately high for both black and minority ethnic people and mental health patients.

"The dangers of restraint are all too evident and are now included in all police and hospital training. There is frankly no excuse for excessive restraint," she said.

Commenting on Mr Lewis's death, Ms Coles said: "This is a deeply disturbing death and it is vital that there is a rigorous, far-reaching investigation into the fatal restraint of a vulnerable black man in need of care and protection."

Institute for Race Relations spokeswoman Harmit Athwal told the Star: "Black people are disproportionately represented within the mental health system but there is also an issue of how they are perceived by the mental health staff and police they come into contact with."

She added that in both cases the levels of restraint used needed to be investigated and called for a full investigation of all uses of restraint in custody.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has confirmed it is investigating both deaths.

The IPCC has been criticised for perceived failings in several recent investigations including that into the death of Mr Rigg.

Ms Athwal said: "Obviously the IPCC says it's an independent body but the reality of what follows their investigations speaks volumes."
 

The full article can be read here: IPCC Website

14 September 2010

The IPCC is independently investigating the circumstances of the death of 23-year-old Seni Lewis, who had been a patient for a few hours at the Bethlem Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Bromley.

Police officers were called at approximately 9.30pm on Tuesday 31 August 2010 by staff at Bethlem Hospital seeking assistance with a patient who was causing a disturbance. Officers arrived at the hospital a short time later.

Police restrained Mr Lewis at the request of hospital staff. During the restraint Mr Lewis became passive and it then became apparent that he was seriously unwell.

CPR was started and an ambulance was called and Mr Lewis was taken to the Croydon University Hospital (formerly the Mayday Hospital). On Friday 3 September 2010 the first set of brain-stem tests were performed and confirmed brain-stem death. A second set of tests were performed and as a result life support was discontinued on Saturday 4 September 2010.

IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: “I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult this must be for this young man’s family. The IPCC is looking into the police response to determine whether or not it was proportionate and reasonable in all the circumstances.”

The cause of death was not fully ascertained at the preliminary autopsy and accordingly further investigations, including histology and toxicology are being performed to try to ascertain the cause.

An inquest was opened and adjourned at Croydon Coroner’s Court on Monday 13 September 2010.

Ends

Isued by Trish Keville, IPCC Press Officer for London and south east on 0207 166 3130

See the original article at: United Campaign Against Police Violence

Tuesday, 14 September 2010

Olaseni Lewis, known to his family as Seni, was a young black man aged 23 years, engaged in post-graduate Masters studies in IT and Business Management at Kingston University. He had no prior history of mental illness or any untoward behaviour until the evening of Sunday 29 August 2010 when his family and friends noticed that he was behaving strangely, alternating between calm and agitated phases. They sought professional help, resulting eventually in his admission as a vulnerable voluntary patient at the Bethlem Royal Hospital early in the evening of Tuesday 31 August 2010. Within hours of leaving him at the hospital, however, they were to learn that he had collapsed after being restrained by police officers who had been called by hospital staff. Seni was taken by ambulance to Mayday Hospital where brain stem death was confirmed following tests on 3 and 4 September 2010.

Seni’s family and friends are determined to ensure that all the circumstances of his tragic death are brought under proper scrutiny so that they can obtain the answers that they need from those responsible for the fatal restraint and those to whom their loved one had been entrusted. To that end, they will be keeping a close eye on the investigations that are said to have been launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

Deborah Coles, co-director of INQUEST, that is working with the family and their lawyer said:

Notes to editors:

INQUEST is the only organisation in England and Wales that provides a specialist, comprehensive advice service on contentious deaths and their investigation to bereaved people, lawyers, other advice and support agencies, the media, parliamentarians and the wider public. Its casework priorities are deaths in prison and in police custody, in immigration detention and in secure training centres. INQUEST develops policy proposals and undertakes research to campaign for changes to the inquest and investigation process, reduce the number of custodial deaths, and improve the treatment and care of those within the institutions where the deaths occur.

INQUEST is represented on the Ministerial Council on Deaths in Custody and the Ministry of Justice Coroner Service Stakeholder Forum.

Please refer to INQUEST the organisation in all capital letters in order to distinguish it from the legal hearing.

See the original article at: BBC News Website – Kurt Barling

We’ve been here before. A young man is restrained by police. The force of the restraint leads to a lack of oxygen to the brain. The victim falls into a coma and never recovers consciousness. A family is left bewildered.

23-year-old Seni Lewis was in the midst of his Master’s Degree studies in IT and Business and letters from his University show he was held in high regard by his peers and professional staff.

Seni began to display uncharacteristic behaviour after a night out in August over the Bank Holiday weekend.

After two days of unpredictable mood swings and feeling that her son was possibly heading towards a breakdown, Bola Lewis convinced her son and the remainder of her family that they needed to seek professional medical help.

They took Seni to A&E at the Mayday Hospital in Croydon. After admitting him under a temporary mental health sectioning order for his own safety, he showed a continued pattern of unpredictable behaviour which gave everyone, including Seni according to his parents, real cause for concern.

Seni was admitted to the Maudsley Psychiatric Hospital on 31 August. The family recall being told there were no beds and that the only options were to release him into his mother’s care or to admit him to Bethlem Royal in Bromley.

Despite the fact that Seni had no previous mental health issues, the family accept they did not feel able at that point to give their confused and vulnerable son the care he needed. A voluntary agreement was arrived at to keep Seni at Bethlem as long or short as he wanted.

Bola Lewis says this was her fatal mistake. With hindsight she and husband Conrad wish they had not left their son behind after visiting hours ended at 8pm.

Bola toyed with the idea of sleeping in her car in the hospital car park just so she could be close by. Instead she left her numbers with hospital staff and went home in the knowledge that her son was in the care of professionals.

But whilst she and Conrad were returning home things were beginning to take a turn for the worse at Bethlem. The facts will only be fully known once the Independent Police Complaints Commission has completed its investigation and that has been scrutinised by the Coroner’s Court in Croydon.

But it is understood that around 9.30pm police were called to an incident at the hospital involving Seni. He was forcibly restrained, it’s believed by up to seven police officers and the rest we know.

The first call the parents received was not to ask for their assistance with their vulnerable son, but to tell them that some time before midnight on the 31st, less than four hours after they’d left him, their son had been admitted to the Mayday Hospital in a coma. He died four days later.

Today the Met Police told the Metropolitan Police Authority no officer has been removed from frontline duties.

And so the Lewis’ will have to travel the well trodden path that the Sylvester family went down between 1999 and 2003 to discover what happened to their son Roger in Tottenham.

And the four-year journey the family of Frank Ogboru travelled between 2006 and 2010 to discover how he died whilst being restrained by police officers in Woolwich.

But this time the questions may be asked more urgently elsewhere about how effectively police officers use restraint techniques.

In April this year, another Coroner asked similar questions on the use of restraint whilst looking into the death of Frank Ogboru.

In a very firm set of recommendations to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Coroner Selena Lynch reflected: “Whether this means more training, different training, or training that is delivered in a different way is something that might be usefully considered.”

Have these questions been addressed by Sir Paul Stephenson?

In the meantime the Lewis family are left reeling from the shock of having buried a vibrant and healthy son prematurely.