Man died after he was pinned down during armed raid
INQUEST HEARS ROBBER WAS HELD DOWN BY
A MAN taking part in an armed robbery died after being tackled by members of the public, including an off-duty police officer, and then pinned down for 17 minutes, a jury has heard.
Shane Bryant lost consciousness at the scene of the crime and could not be revived by paramedics. A pathologist later found the cause of his death was an inability to breathe.
The incident happened just before 10pm on Thursday, July 13, 2017, at the Co-op, in Market Street, Ashby, but few details were made public until Monday afternoon, when the inquest into Mr Bryant’s death began at Loughborough Town Hall.
Mr Bryant was confronted by a group of people, including an offduty Leicestershire Police officer, during the robbery, the hearing was told. The 29-year-old made a run for the door, but as as he tried to jump a low security gate he banged his head on the concrete roof and fell to the ground outside, where members of the public grabbed him.
Mr Bryant, who was muscular, 5ft 8ins and about 16st, struggled free, but was brought to the ground a second time. The getaway driver drove at the group, forcing them to run out of the way. One was hit.
The off-duty officer and another man kept hold of Mr Bryant. He was pinned to the ground for just over 17 minutes until more police arrived.
When additional officers arrived, paramedics, who had also been summoned, were called over to check on Mr Bryant, who was unresponsive. He was given CPR but never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead at the Queen’s Medical Centre, in Nottingham.
At the hearing, Coroner Michael Auty QC told the jury an investigation by pathologists found the cause of death was Mr Bryant’s inability to breathe – either caused by his chest being compressed or his mouth and nose being blocked.
There was a head injury the pathologists considered “insufficient to be fatal”, the jury heard.
Mr Auty told the jury that race should not be a factor in their decision-making about the death of Mr Bryant, who was black.
He said: “What you’re looking at here is the reasonableness of Shane Bryant’s detention or restraint.
“Please resist the temptation to come to any generalised opinion of whether you think that police officers might be inclined to treat certain sections of the community differently. It doesn’t matter. It’s this particular incident you’re examining.”
The inquest heard Mr Bryant had been wearing a balaclava and was armed with a baseball bat. While the getaway driver waited outside in the Audi, Mr Bryant ran into the shop with an accomplice, who had been armed with a golf club.
Mr Bryant leapt on the counter and threatened two female members of staff, dragging one woman to the back of the shop before forcing the shop manager to open the safe.
After he had loaded a bag full of cash, a group or people arrived, including the off-duty police officer. They had been at The Tap At 76 pub over the road from the Co-op when they spotted the Audi getaway car.
Mr Bryant’s accomplice escaped as the police officer and another man chased Mr Bryant around the shop. At one point, the civilian was knocked to the floor and Mr Bryant stamped on his head, leaving him with a bleeding nose.
Earlier in the inquest, which is set to continue for the rest of the month, a statement about Mr Bryant by his niece, Renee, was read out.
It said: “Throughout Shane’s life there were times he was misunderstood and times he was misled. He struggled with his mental health, but Shane was an energetic, upbeat, imaginitive and creative individual.
“It’s very hard for us as a family to understand how Shane got involved [in the robbery]. We are a hardworking family. As a family we had no doubt Shane needed to be arrested. He should have ended up in prison. He shouldn’t have ended up in a coffin.”
Because of the involvement of a serving police officer, the Independent Police Complaints Commission carried out an investigation but its report has not yet been published.