Finally after 4 years of waiting the circumstances surrounding the untimely death of Kingsley Burrell has been placed in the public domain.
This is a tragic case of a man that called the Police for help on 27th March 2011 at a Supermarket in Icknield Port Road Edgbaston Birmingham, only to be detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, followed by a Section 2 Mental health detention and to die within 72 hours.
The Burrell family have had to suffer the anguish of a 17 months wait for Kingsley body to be released for burial and when it was they were only given a week to arrange his final journey, in addition to waiting some 4 years for the inquest, following various decisions being made in this matter behind closed doors.
It is with disappointment that in the summing of by the Senior Coroner for Birmingham & Solihull, that “Unlawful Killing” has not been placed before the Jury for their deliberations, however, in their considerations of a narrative “Neglect” has been which is a very serious matter taking into account the actions of staff of the public agencies involved in this matter, failed in their Duty of Care, towards Kingsley.
It has been a emotional roller coaster for the Burrell Family and Friends to listen to the treatment given to Kingsley by all those involved to the point where some witnesses gave not only contradictory evidence, however, some were just not telling the truth and change their evidence when shown photographic evidence.
The conduct of West Midlands Police Officer’s, West Midlands Ambulance Service and The Mental Health Trust are concerning as this is a very serious case of Systemic Failure by all of these agencies, who blatantly failed Kingsley.
It is now in the open that Kingsley suffered serious inhumane treatment such as:
1.Denied his basic human right of being allowed to go to the toilet and was left to wet himself on several occasions.
2. Being hit several times by Police Officer’s, over a continued period despite being restrained for some 2 ½ hours. Comments such as “hitting him was like hitting concrete” demonstrated the mindset of these Officer’s in their excessive use of force, for which one of the Pathologists described Kingsley’s injuries as not the worst he had seen, but on the high end of severe.
3. Being retrained for an excessive period of time with leg restraints, thigh restraints and handcuffed behind his back.
4. Forcibly sedated with continued restraint.
5. Strapped to an Ambulance Stretcher and having a folded blanket placed over his head.
6. Failing to allow the Nurse in to the Ambulance to monitor Kingsley whilst being transported.
7. Failure to follow various procedures and guidelines.
8. Failing to remove the folded blanket over Kingsley’s head once being placed in the isolation room face down on the bed in the prone position, when Police Officer’s once again hit him in order to remove the handcuffs, and restraints.
9. Failure of the Mental Health Staff to monitor Kingsley breathing to the point where he went into Cardiac Arrest and a delay in responding to the emergency where Kingsley never regained consciousness and was eventually declared brain dead.
This Inquest has lead to several questions being unanswered, however, the conduct of some of the witnesses in this matter has be alarming, especially, West Midlands Police Officer’s who have not been fully forthcoming with the truth, along with a West Midlands Ambulance Service trainee Technician placing a blanket over Kingsley head despite there being spit masks available. Mental health staff saying they were concerned at the way in which the Police where hitting Kingsley and some did ask why?
The final insult must be that a man with his head covered with a blanket, who has been sedated with the implications of restrictive breathing: no-one bothered to remove it.
This is a serious case of not only Systemic failure, but also of those involved being very economical with the truth to the point where one of the Barrister’s in their legal; argument accused the Police of lying in the witness box.
There is no alternative here but to:
1. Demand a Public Inquiry into this Systemic Failure by these Public Bodies.
2. Demand the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and The Police and Crime Commissioner account for the actions of these Officer’s not only in their dealings with Kingsley Burrell, but, also their conduct in giving evidence at the Inquest, by us demanding their dismissal.
3. West Midlands Ambulance Service account for the actions of their staff in applying the folded blanket over Kingsley Burrell’s head, which was outside of their regulations.
4. The Mental Health Trust account for the lack of actions of their staff, taking into account that Kingsley Burrell was in their constant care from 27th march until the time of his death.
5. The Jury’s narrative of “Neglect” we demand that the Crown Prosecution Service, seek to bring charges against all public employees in this matter of “Misconduct in Public Office”
Desmond Jaddoo
On behalf of the Kingsley Burrell Campaign
15th May 2015
This is a tragic case of a man that called the Police for help on 27th March 2011 at a Supermarket in Icknield Port Road Edgbaston Birmingham, only to be detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, followed by a Section 2 Mental health detention and to die within 72 hours.
The Burrell family have had to suffer the anguish of a 17 months wait for Kingsley body to be released for burial and when it was they were only given a week to arrange his final journey, in addition to waiting some 4 years for the inquest, following various decisions being made in this matter behind closed doors.
It is with disappointment that in the summing of by the Senior Coroner for Birmingham & Solihull, that “Unlawful Killing” has not been placed before the Jury for their deliberations, however, in their considerations of a narrative “Neglect” has been which is a very serious matter taking into account the actions of staff of the public agencies involved in this matter, failed in their Duty of Care, towards Kingsley.
It has been a emotional roller coaster for the Burrell Family and Friends to listen to the treatment given to Kingsley by all those involved to the point where some witnesses gave not only contradictory evidence, however, some were just not telling the truth and change their evidence when shown photographic evidence.
The conduct of West Midlands Police Officer’s, West Midlands Ambulance Service and The Mental Health Trust are concerning as this is a very serious case of Systemic Failure by all of these agencies, who blatantly failed Kingsley.
It is now in the open that Kingsley suffered serious inhumane treatment such as:
1.Denied his basic human right of being allowed to go to the toilet and was left to wet himself on several occasions.
2. Being hit several times by Police Officer’s, over a continued period despite being restrained for some 2 ½ hours. Comments such as “hitting him was like hitting concrete” demonstrated the mindset of these Officer’s in their excessive use of force, for which one of the Pathologists described Kingsley’s injuries as not the worst he had seen, but on the high end of severe.
3. Being retrained for an excessive period of time with leg restraints, thigh restraints and handcuffed behind his back.
4. Forcibly sedated with continued restraint.
5. Strapped to an Ambulance Stretcher and having a folded blanket placed over his head.
6. Failing to allow the Nurse in to the Ambulance to monitor Kingsley whilst being transported.
7. Failure to follow various procedures and guidelines.
8. Failing to remove the folded blanket over Kingsley’s head once being placed in the isolation room face down on the bed in the prone position, when Police Officer’s once again hit him in order to remove the handcuffs, and restraints.
9. Failure of the Mental Health Staff to monitor Kingsley breathing to the point where he went into Cardiac Arrest and a delay in responding to the emergency where Kingsley never regained consciousness and was eventually declared brain dead.
This Inquest has lead to several questions being unanswered, however, the conduct of some of the witnesses in this matter has be alarming, especially, West Midlands Police Officer’s who have not been fully forthcoming with the truth, along with a West Midlands Ambulance Service trainee Technician placing a blanket over Kingsley head despite there being spit masks available. Mental health staff saying they were concerned at the way in which the Police where hitting Kingsley and some did ask why?
The final insult must be that a man with his head covered with a blanket, who has been sedated with the implications of restrictive breathing: no-one bothered to remove it.
This is a serious case of not only Systemic failure, but also of those involved being very economical with the truth to the point where one of the Barrister’s in their legal; argument accused the Police of lying in the witness box.
There is no alternative here but to:
1. Demand a Public Inquiry into this Systemic Failure by these Public Bodies.
2. Demand the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police and The Police and Crime Commissioner account for the actions of these Officer’s not only in their dealings with Kingsley Burrell, but, also their conduct in giving evidence at the Inquest, by us demanding their dismissal.
3. West Midlands Ambulance Service account for the actions of their staff in applying the folded blanket over Kingsley Burrell’s head, which was outside of their regulations.
4. The Mental Health Trust account for the lack of actions of their staff, taking into account that Kingsley Burrell was in their constant care from 27th march until the time of his death.
5. The Jury’s narrative of “Neglect” we demand that the Crown Prosecution Service, seek to bring charges against all public employees in this matter of “Misconduct in Public Office”
Desmond Jaddoo
On behalf of the Kingsley Burrell Campaign
15th May 2015