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.''
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