by Alan Quick

THREE Devon and Cornwall Police staff accused of the manslaughter of a former Crediton man with schizophrenia, who was in custody, have gone on trial.

Thirty-two-year-old Thomas Orchard had been arrested in Exeter on October 3, 2012. He was taken to the Heavitree Road Police Station in Exeter but was found unconscious in a cell and died on October 10, 2012, at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. 

Custody Sergeant Jan Kingshott (45), and civilian detention officers Michael Marsden (56), and Simon Tansley (39), each deny one count of manslaughter by gross negligence. 

The trial, which began earlier this week, is being held at Bristol Crown Court and is expected to last six to nine weeks.

The jury was told Mr Orchard suffered a cardiac arrest in his cell after being restrained with a belt across his face.

The court heard Mr Orchard had suffered a relapse of his mental illness and was arrested in Sidwell Street on suspicion of a public order offence.

Mr Orchard had been working as a cleaner at a church in St Thomas in Exeter where the curate described him as "thorough and dependable".

The jury was shown CCTV of his arrest in which he could be seen handcuffed and wearing restraining straps.

He also had an Emergency Response Belt (ERB) applied over his face, including at times his nose and mouth, the court heard.

The BBC reported that Mark Haywood QC, prosecuting, said: "The combination of force and physical restraints used on him, coupled with a complete failure to inquire and so to realise his true condition and also to observe him closely, led to him being starved of oxygen to the point of cardio-respiratory arrest.

"Not one of those directly responsible took sufficient care to see that he was breathing properly or at all.

"Instead, he was left in a locked cell under remote observation for a further 12 minutes until his true condition was discovered. By then, it was too late."

The judge, Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb, told the jury that this is a retrial of the three defendants.

In 2014, after a long battle, members of the Orchard family, who come from Crediton, were granted permission to watch the CCTV footage recorded inside the custody suite at Heavitree Road Police Station.

It was not until after his post mortem examination two weeks later, where the family had an independent witness, that they discovered the actions of police officers may have been a contributory factor.

In the wake of the death, ERBs to restrain prisoners has been halted by senior police officers.