‘IF POLICE HAD ARRIVED SOONER TWO

PEOPLE who saw Christopher Walters being detained by two men in the street say it took police too long to respond to 999 calls. They spoke out as mechanic Benjamin Hunt was yesterday jailed for 38 months after admitting the manslaughter of Christopher Walters in May 15, 2019.

Mr Walters had been detained by Hunt and Jonathan Hassall, who was found hanged last month just days before the start of his manslaughter trial, following reports he had smashed a car window with a hammer.

Now residents of Wood Street, Longton – where Mr Walters was detained – say they believe he may have survived if police had responded to the 999 call sooner.

The hearing at Stafford Crown Court yesterday was told it took police 19 minutes to get to the scene after the initial call.

They also highlighted that Longton Police Station is less than a five minute’s walk away from where he had been detained.

Patrick Harper, aged 55, who witnessed the events, said: “They had him down on the ground, one was sitting on the back of his legs and another man had his arms around his neck.

“They weren’t trying to kill him, they didn’t mean to kill him. They weren’t those sort of blokes. If it hadn’t taken the police that long to come, two men could still be alive and another man wouldn’t be in prison. “All of the families involved have

suffered because of this case. It’s very sad, it’s awful.”

George Walters, aged 79, said: “It shouldn’t have taken police that long to respond.

“I’ve had Longton Police Station’s number for years, but when you ring them now they say they can’t respond here and that you should ring Stafford. I think it’s rubbish.

“If the police had got there within five minutes, as that’s how far away Longton Police Station is, they could have had him in handcuffs and he may not have passed away.

“It would have been a different story. Two lives have been lost through this and it’s wrong.”

And Meg Evans, aged 26, described the events as a ‘tragedy’.

She said: “It was just a couple of guys trying to help out the police by detaining him. But unfortunately it went wrong.

“We would take our car to Jonathan Hassall at New Road Garage and he was a pleasant guy. It’s very sad. It’s a shame for the families that have been left behind, it’s horrible and it’s just a shame that it happened.” A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “Following this incident we referred the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. This is a tragic case and we offer our condolences to Mr Walters’ family.” An IOPC spokesman said: “We completed our investigation in October (2019) and will consider releasing our findings when the associated criminal and inquest proceedings have been concluded.”