No signs of asphyxiation on Wigan borough man who collapsed after being detained by police, jury told

Police were called to Tyldesley on the afternoon of July 3, 2019 with reports of a man running around the town centre in his underwear, trying to take a baby out of a pram and attempting to get into cars.

A jury inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard yesterday that he went home to get dressed, but went out again and continued causing problems.

The man – 28-year-old Ianec Boghiu, a Moldovan national who had moved to Tyldesley from Ireland just a few weeks before – was eventually detained by two members of the public on Elliott Street.

Matthew Moore, a Greater Manchester Police inspector who has since retired, was the first officer to arrive and said Mr Boghiu was sitting on a bench, with two men using “totally appropriate and proportionate” restraint.

He arrested Mr Boghiu on suspicion of child abduction, put handcuffs on his wrists in front of his chest, and described him as “agitated” and “clammy and pale”.

Mr Boghiu was sweating profusely, his eyes were “bulging”, his pupils were “pin pricks” and he was muttering in a foreign language, he said.

The ambulance service had already been called and Mr Moore thought he needed medical assistance, so that would be the best way to transport him to hospital.

He waited with Mr Boghiu until PCs John Caunce and Andrew Dawson arrived, asking them to take over detaining the suspect while he went to a house on Wareing Street, Tyldesley, where he had been seen.

Mr Moore told the court he thought Mr Boghiu may have been using drugs and in his home he found evidence of drug use, including 10 to 12 snap bags with the remains of white powder and a homemade bong. He also found documents relating to Mr Boghiu’s identification.

He returned to Elliott Street shortly afterwards, following a call on the radio alerting him to the situation developing.

A police van driven by PC Rachel O’Connor had arrived and the officers had decided to move Mr Boghiu into a cage in the rear of the vehicle, so he was out of the sun and away from public view.

PC Caunce told the inquest Mr Boghiu walked the short distance to the police van without any issues, but he then went towards PC O’Connor.

She said he tried to grab her Taser, getting hold of the handle but not pulling it out of its holder, and then tried to grab her vest.

She pushed him away and the officers put him to the ground, before deciding to move his handcuffed wrists from the front to the rear of his body.

Mr Boghiu was then put into the police van, with the fan on to try to cool him, and PC Dawson stayed to monitor him and try to gather information about whether he had taken drugs.

He said at one point Mr Boghiu put his tongue out and shortly afterwards he fell forward in the cage and started seizing.

PCs Dawson and Caunce took him out of the vehicle and put him in the recovery position on the ground.

Paramedics arrived soon afterwards and Mr Boghiu started to have another seizure, so he was put on a stretcher and taken into an ambulance.

While being treated there, PC O’Connor asked the paramedics if they wanted her to remove the handcuffs and while they initially declined, they then asked her to take them off, she said.

The police officers were questioned by Mr Boghiu’s sister Iana Boghiu about why they were not removed sooner, when he were having seizures and vomiting, with the officers explaining he was a large man, had already tried to take PC O’Connor’s Taser and they did not know how he would react after a seizure.

Advanced paramedic John Pennington told the inquest that Mr Boghiu was already with his colleagues in the ambulance when he arrived at 2.35pm.

He was unresponsive and had suffered a cardiac arrest, but had been resuscitated. He had a clear airway, low blood pressure and high body temperature.

Paramedics worked to treat him but he had another cardiac arrest at 2.51pm, with spontaneous circulation returning three minutes later.

Mr Boghiu was then taken by ambulance to Royal Bolton Hospital and treated on the intensive care unit, but he died five days later, on July 8.

Forensic pathologist Dr Naomi Carter said toxicology tests found spice, ecstasy, a breakdown of cannabis, cocaine, ketamine and benzodiazepine in Mr Boghiu’s body. However, she did say ketamine and benzodiazepine may have been given during medical treatment.

After a post-mortem examination, analysis of various samples and consultations with specialists, she believed his medical cause of death was hypoxic brain injury damage following cardio-respiratory arrest, caused by multiple drug use with acute behavioural disturbance (ABD).

Dr Carter explained to the jury of six women and four men that cocaine and ecstasy can have an unpredictable effect on the body’s temperature and lead to disturbed behaviour, and it was not uncommon for people to collapse suddenly while restrained.

She said ABD was a severe stressor on the body and being restrained in handcuffs could be the final factor in a day of stressors.

She found no evidence of asphyxia or anything like restraint or restriction on Mr Boghiu’s breathing which could have caused or contributed to his death.

The inquest continues and is expected to last three days.