Police officers who restrained and pepper-sprayed Edir da Costa on the night he was fatally injured used unusual force for a stop and search and failed to give him first aid quickly enough, an expert witness at the inquest into his death has said. Da Costa, who was also known as Edson, was taken to hospital, where he was placed in intensive care, but he died six days later. On Tuesday, Caffrey told Walthamstow coroner’s court that it appeared from the evidence she had seen that the five plainclothes officers who stopped Da Costa used force beyond that suggested in guidance for a section 1 stop and search. Strikes of the kind used by officers were acceptable if used in self-defence, Caffrey told the court. Instead, the inquest has heard, officers continued to restrain Da Costa, ordering him to “spit it out” and again using a pressure point in his neck in an attempt to force him to open his mouth.

Source: The Guardian May 28, 2019 17:44 UTC