A MAN who was strangled in the back of a police van was unlawfully

killed, an inquest jury said yesterday.

Mr Oliver Pryce died of asphyxiation as he was being held in a

headlock by Constable Victor Gatenby, the Middlesbrough inquest was

told.

Mr Pryce, a strongly built 30-year-old was a former junior karate

champion and represented Britain.

The Director of Public Prosecutions ruled earlier this year that

officers involved in the arrest should not face charges but that a full

inquest should be heard.

After the verdict, Cleveland coroner Michael Sheffield said the file

on the case should be sent back to the DPP for further consideration.

''In view of the verdict, I will send the papers to the DPP and it

will then be a matter for him to decide whether he takes any further

action,'' he said.

Mr Pryce lived in Wolverhampton but had travelled to Middlesbrough to

visit his girlfriend.

The inquest was told he had been suffering psychiatric problems and

was acting strangely before jumping in front of an ambulance in July

last year.

It took six police officers to arrest him. He was carried into a

police van and taken to Middlesbrough police station. Constable Gatenby

held him in a headlock throughout.

At the police station, he was carried into a cell and only then was an

ambulance called.

Cardiologist Dr Adrian Davis told the inquest that, in all

probability, Pryce died in the police van.

Cleveland police said last night that no officers had been suspended

as a result of the verdict.

Assistant Chief Constable Fred Smith said: ''Let me say again how

deeply we regret the death of Oliver Pryce.

''The chief constable has been legally represented throughout the

inquest and we are now studying the verdict.''