Two Metropolitan Police Service officers, PCs McAleenan and Barnes, have today been cleared of gross misconduct in relation to the restraint related death of Kevin Clarke in 2018.
Kevin Clarke, a 35 year old Black man, was experiencing a mental health crisis when he died following restraint by Metropolitan Police officers in Lewisham, South London, on 9 March 2018.
During the restraint, which lasted 33 minutes, he told officers “I can’t breathe” and “I’m going to die”. An inquest in 2020 found Kevin's death was contributed to by “inappropriate” restraint by police.
Following the inquest, the IOPC re-opened their investigation into Kevin’s death. After a lengthy re-investigation, the IOPC announced in August 2023 that two police officers would face gross misconduct hearings, and one police sergeant would be subject to gross incompetence proceedings.
The two officers were accused of 1) failing to ensure Kevin’s welfare during his restraint and 2) lying at the inquest when they stated, under oath, that they had not heard Kevin say that he could not breathe. The police sergeant accused of gross incompetence has since been dismissed from the police force in relation to entirely separate misconduct proceedings. None of the other nine officers who were involved in the restraint of Kevin faced misconduct proceedings arising from his death.
The IOPC decided not to send a file of evidence for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider any criminal charges for any of the officers involved in Kevin’s death.
The misconduct hearings for the two Police officers took place from Monday 20 January, until Wednesday 22 January 2025. The hearings centred on whether the two officers had heard Kevin say “I can’t breathe”, and if so, whether they subsequently took sufficient action as a result of hearing this.
The hearings also focused on whether the officers lied under oath during the inquest when they stated that did not hear Kevin say “I can’t breathe”. The hearing did not consider the general conduct of the officers during the restraint. The panel concluded that while it was ‘possible’ that the words “I can’t breathe” were said by Kevin during the restraint, they could not be confident of this fact.
The panel determined that it could therefore not be proven that either officer had heard Kevin say these words. As a consequence of this finding, the panel did not consider whether the officers had lied under oath at the inquest. The panel determined that no misconduct had been committed by either officer.
Tellecia Strachan, the sister of Kevin Clarke, said: “We are extremely disappointed. There is something wrong with the system – the system is broken and it’s not fit for purpose.
It’s disrespectful to my brother as a human being – I’m extremely angry, disappointed, and I think it’s a waste of time.”
Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, said: “Kevin was in crisis and needed care. Instead, he was restrained by police whilst clearly telling them ‘I can’t breathe’.
These have been the dying words of too many Black men in mental health crisis subject to disproportionate use of force by police.
Today’s decision is not reconcilable with the overwhelming evidence heard at the inquest which found a litany of failures by police, paramedics, and mental health professionals contributed to Kevin's death. Nearly seven years after his death, this reinvestigation by the IOPC has yet again failed to hold the police officers involved accountable. The processes for police accountability are clearly broken.
Real accountability is when the deaths and harms of policing stop. To achieve this, we must urgently redirect resources away from police and into communities.”
Cyrilia Davies Knight, the lead solicitor for the family of Kevin Clarke, said: “The family are deeply disappointed by the panel’s decision, which found that it could not be proved that the two officers heard Kevin Clarke say “I can’t breathe”during his restraint. This finding stands in stark contrast to the findings of 11 jurors at the inquest, who unanimously agreed that Kevin repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe” during his restraint, and “that at least one officer would have heard him say I can’t breathe at least once.
Sadly, the family had no expectations of justice as they believe this system is clearly not designed to deliver accountability, particularly where there is a death in police custody. This outcome, while devastating for the family, was sadly, in their opinion, inevitable. It is incredible that not a single officer, despite two lengthy IOPC investigations and an inquest which concluded that the police restraint contributed to Kevin’s death, has been reprimanded for their conduct towards Kevin before he died. It is a damning indictment of our police regulatory system. The family believe the police treated Kevin like a violent criminal and rushed to use disproportionate force against him, despite him needing medical help and posing no threat to anyone.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
For further information, interview requests and to note your interest, please contact Leila Hagmann on 020 7263 1111 or [email protected].
A photo of Kevin is available here.
INQUEST has been working with the family of Kevin Clarke since his death. The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Cyrilia Davies Knight and Ben Curtis of Saunders Law and Professor Leslie Thomas QC of Garden Court Chambers and Ifeanyi Odogwu of Matrix Chambers. The INQUEST caseworker is Anita Sharma.
In 2021, Kevin’s death was highlighted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in an international report on racism and policing.
Kevin Clarke
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Two Metropolitan Police Service officers, PCs McAleenan and Barnes, have today been cleared of gross misconduct in relation to the restraint related death of Kevin Clarke in 2018.
Kevin Clarke, a 35 year old Black man, was experiencing a mental health crisis when he died following restraint by Metropolitan Police officers in Lewisham, South London, on 9 March 2018.
During the restraint, which lasted 33 minutes, he told officers “I can’t breathe” and “I’m going to die”. An inquest in 2020 found Kevin's death was contributed to by “inappropriate” restraint by police.
Following the inquest, the IOPC re-opened their investigation into Kevin’s death. After a lengthy re-investigation, the IOPC announced in August 2023 that two police officers would face gross misconduct hearings, and one police sergeant would be subject to gross incompetence proceedings.
The two officers were accused of 1) failing to ensure Kevin’s welfare during his restraint and 2) lying at the inquest when they stated, under oath, that they had not heard Kevin say that he could not breathe. The police sergeant accused of gross incompetence has since been dismissed from the police force in relation to entirely separate misconduct proceedings. None of the other nine officers who were involved in the restraint of Kevin faced misconduct proceedings arising from his death.
The IOPC decided not to send a file of evidence for the Crown Prosecution Service to consider any criminal charges for any of the officers involved in Kevin’s death.
The misconduct hearings for the two Police officers took place from Monday 20 January, until Wednesday 22 January 2025. The hearings centred on whether the two officers had heard Kevin say “I can’t breathe”, and if so, whether they subsequently took sufficient action as a result of hearing this.
The hearings also focused on whether the officers lied under oath during the inquest when they stated that did not hear Kevin say “I can’t breathe”. The hearing did not consider the general conduct of the officers during the restraint. The panel concluded that while it was ‘possible’ that the words “I can’t breathe” were said by Kevin during the restraint, they could not be confident of this fact.
The panel determined that it could therefore not be proven that either officer had heard Kevin say these words. As a consequence of this finding, the panel did not consider whether the officers had lied under oath at the inquest. The panel determined that no misconduct had been committed by either officer.
Tellecia Strachan, the sister of Kevin Clarke, said: “We are extremely disappointed. There is something wrong with the system – the system is broken and it’s not fit for purpose.
It’s disrespectful to my brother as a human being – I’m extremely angry, disappointed, and I think it’s a waste of time.”
Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, said: “Kevin was in crisis and needed care. Instead, he was restrained by police whilst clearly telling them ‘I can’t breathe’.
These have been the dying words of too many Black men in mental health crisis subject to disproportionate use of force by police.
Today’s decision is not reconcilable with the overwhelming evidence heard at the inquest which found a litany of failures by police, paramedics, and mental health professionals contributed to Kevin's death. Nearly seven years after his death, this reinvestigation by the IOPC has yet again failed to hold the police officers involved accountable. The processes for police accountability are clearly broken.
Real accountability is when the deaths and harms of policing stop. To achieve this, we must urgently redirect resources away from police and into communities.”
Cyrilia Davies Knight, the lead solicitor for the family of Kevin Clarke, said: “The family are deeply disappointed by the panel’s decision, which found that it could not be proved that the two officers heard Kevin Clarke say “I can’t breathe”during his restraint. This finding stands in stark contrast to the findings of 11 jurors at the inquest, who unanimously agreed that Kevin repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe” during his restraint, and “that at least one officer would have heard him say I can’t breathe at least once.
Sadly, the family had no expectations of justice as they believe this system is clearly not designed to deliver accountability, particularly where there is a death in police custody. This outcome, while devastating for the family, was sadly, in their opinion, inevitable. It is incredible that not a single officer, despite two lengthy IOPC investigations and an inquest which concluded that the police restraint contributed to Kevin’s death, has been reprimanded for their conduct towards Kevin before he died. It is a damning indictment of our police regulatory system. The family believe the police treated Kevin like a violent criminal and rushed to use disproportionate force against him, despite him needing medical help and posing no threat to anyone.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
For further information, interview requests and to note your interest, please contact Leila Hagmann on 020 7263 1111 or [email protected].
A photo of Kevin is available here.
INQUEST has been working with the family of Kevin Clarke since his death. The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Cyrilia Davies Knight and Ben Curtis of Saunders Law and Professor Leslie Thomas QC of Garden Court Chambers and Ifeanyi Odogwu of Matrix Chambers. The INQUEST caseworker is Anita Sharma.
In 2021, Kevin’s death was highlighted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in an international report on racism and policing.
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