On Tuesday 21 June, two police officers in Sussex in England went to a care home after receiving a report of a resident acting out.
93-year-old Donald Burges had one leg, was in a wheelchair and suffered from dementia. On this day, he had obtained a knife, and now he used it to threaten employees, writes The Guardian.
Once there, the two officers must have confronted the 93-year-old.
Finally, while one officer kept him at bay with pepper spray and a baton, the other fired a stun gun at Burges.
Transported to hospital
The police officers got control of the situation, but the means of force were so powerful that the 93-year-old was sent directly to hospital.
He lay there for three weeks before finally dying.
SHOCK GUN: The resident of the nursing home is said to have been shot with a stun gun, among other things. Illustration image: Shutterstock/NTB
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According to The Guardian, it is currently unknown whether it was the police’s intervention that caused Burges’ death.
These are among the questions The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) – which corresponds to the Norwegian Special Investigation Agency – aims to answer in connection with its investigation.
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Not necessarily followed
Sky News reports that Donald Burges’ death is being investigated as a negligent homicide. However, the IOPC states that this does not necessarily mean that they will prosecute the police officers.
– The investigation will particularly shed light on whether the use of force against the man can be considered a reasonable and necessary intervention, given the circumstances of the situation, says IOPC regional director Graham Beesley to Sky News.
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– It is important to assess whether the use of force complies with local and national guidelines, he continues.
Assistant Chief Constable Tanya Jones in Sussex says their sympathies go out to the deceased’s family and friends. She states that they will work with IOPC to get clarity on the matter.
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Concerned about police violence
The use of electroshock weapons is not a new phenomenon in the UK. In 2020, the IOPC expressed accordingly The Guardian that they were concerned about the increasing number of complaints about the police’s use of force.
In most cases, the accusations came from dark-skinned men and people with mental disorders. Several of these reviews have been upheld in the British legal system.
