Inquest of man who died after police restraint in hospital
JURY SWORN IN FOR PROBE INTO DEATH OF ANDREW HALL
A JURY has been sworn in for an inquest into the death of a man who was restrained by police before he died.
Andrew Hall, 43, from Dalton in Huddersfield, died at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary in September 2016.
He was under arrest at the time and had been taken to hospital by police officers, the jurors at Bradford Coroner’s Court heard.
A jury was selected and sworn in yesterday and told the inquest – being held in a studio at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford – could last up to 10 weeks.
Assistant coroner Oliver Longstaff outlined the role of the jury at the inquest and gave them brief details about Mr Hall’s death.
He said: “An inquest is required into Mr Hall’s death because when he died, in Huddersfield
Royal Infirmary, on 13 September 2016, he was in a form of state detention, being under police arrest and having been brought by police officers to the hospital from the police station where he had been in police custody.”
He added that Mr Hall was “in the process of being anaesthetised” at the hospital and had been restrained by police.
Mr Longstaff said it would be the jury’s role to decide how Mr Hall came by his death and they would have to give consideration to the medical cause, the sequence of events, and the wider context.
The coroner offered his condolences to Mr Hall’s family and friends, who he said had had to “live with many anxieties and concerns about the death of a loved one”.
He said: “Mr Hall’s family have had to wait a very long time for this day to arrive.”
The jury was sent home and told to return this morning.