No charges to follow citizen’s arrest death

The grieving family of a dad who died during a citizen’s arrest on a Bath towpath have been told no-one will be charged over the tragedy.

Two people were arrested after Carl Picken, 29, of Birmingham died in the incident near the River Avon in Brassmill Lane, on August 13 in 2020.

But the Crown Prosecution Service has now confirmed nobody will be charged after releasing further details of the death to the family who now plan to appeal.

Two people had made the citizen’s arrest after claiming Mr Picken (inset), originally from Winson Green, was in breach of a restraining order.

Senior Crown Prosecutor M. Duffy wrote in a document sent to his family: “The suspects claimed that in response to being challenged about the alleged breach, Carl made a threat to kill one of them. There was evidence from independent witnesses to support this.

“The suspects then decided to perform a citizen’s arrest. This was resisted by Carl. There was a short chase and a struggle. There was evidence from a witness of Carl striking out at the suspects during this struggle. Carl was restrained on the ground by the suspects and it was whilst he was on the ground that he died.”

Mr Duffy said he reached the “difficult decision” of being unable to prove the citizen’s arrest was unlawful, or that the level of force used to detain Mr Picken at the time was unreasonable.

“This was a fast-moving incident, where it appears the suspects only intended to keep hold of Carl until the police arrived,” added Mr Duffy, “they did not anticipate he would take a turn for the worse. Once they were aware of the fact that Carl was struggling to breathe, witnesses say 999 was called and the suspects started to perform CPR. “Unless the prosecution is able to show that an unlawful act took place, the offence of manslaughter cannot be proved.”

But Mr Picken’s family plan to appeal against the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision.

His sister Stacey told Birminghamlive: “My brother wasn’t an angel, but he didn’t deserve to go out that way. He got into trouble sometimes, but he didn’t go around hurting people. He wasn’t violent.

“Carl hadn’t been in trouble for three years. He was sorting his life out, getting back on the right path. If they were that intimidated by Carl they should have phoned the police straight away, instead of chasing him onto the canals. They said Carl swung at them, but I’d swing too if I was being chased by two people. It’s unbelievable that there are no repercussions from this. We need justice.”

Mr Picken leaves three children, the eldest aged 12, the youngest eight. His family say they were left in the dark on how he died until receiving more details from CPS this month.

Stacey added: “We had a phone call at the time saying a citizen’s arrest had happened, but we didn’t know exactly how he died. We found out through CPS paperwork. Carl was visiting his girlfriend’s house in Bath when the incident happened. I spoke to him 10 minutes before.

“They had a rocky relationship and he was going to tell her that he’s not doing it anymore, that he planned to return home to Birmingham.”

Avon and Somerset Police said they conducted a “thorough investigation” at the time of Mr Picken’s death. A force spokesperson told Birminghamlive: “Authorisation to charge two men was subsequently sought from the CPS, which was also provided with a file of supporting evidence. Having reviewed the file, the CPS concluded there wasn’t any realistic prospect of conviction, and so no charges have been brought.

A CPS spokesperson added: “Following a thorough review we concluded that there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.”