Met officers cleared of gross misconduct over death of Kevin Clarke

Two Met cops who denied hearing the pleas of a restrained man before he died have been cleared of gross misconduct.

PC Danielle Barnes and PC Elizabeth McAleenan were accused of “failing to execute their duty to ensure a member of the public’s welfare,” over the death of Kevin Clarke in Lewisham on March 9, 2018.

It was also alleged that the two officers lied under oath at an inquest in October 2020.

A misconduct hearing, which took place between January 20 and January 22, determined that no misconduct had been committed by either officer.

Reacting, Tellecia Strachan, Mr Clarke’s sister, said: “We are extremely disappointed. There is something wrong with the system – the system is broken and it’s not fit for purpose.

“It’s disrespectful to my brother as a human being.”

Mr Clarke, 35, who had schizophrenia, died after being restrained by officers in a field in Catford. 

An inquest at Southwark Coroners’ Court in 2022 heard that Mr Clarke told officers “I’m going to die” as he was put into handcuffs, but was “ignored” and then lost consciousness as he was taken to an ambulance. 

He died from acute behavioural disturbance, in a relapse of schizophrenia, leading to exhaustion and cardiac arrest. A coroner concluded that inappropriate restraint by Met officers contributed to his death. 

Following the inquest, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) opened an investigation into Mr Clarke’s death. 

In August 2023, the watchdog announced that two cops would face gross misconduct hearings, and one police sergeant would be subject to gross incompetence proceedings. 

The police sergeant accused of gross incompetence has since been dismissed from the force in relation to separate misconduct proceedings.

The hearings centred on whether the two officers had heard Mr Clarke say “I can’t breathe”, and if so, whether they took sufficient action as a result.

The hearing did not consider the conduct of the officers during the restraint. 

The panel concluded that while it was “possible” that the words “I can’t breathe” were said by Mr Clarke during the restraint, they could not be confident of this fact. 

The panel determined that it could not be proven that either officer had heard Mr Clarke say these words. 

Superintendent Louise Sargent, in charge of policing in Catford , said: “Throughout this hearing our thoughts and sympathies have been with Mr Clarke’s family who undoubtedly have found it distressing to re-live what happened to their loved one.

“The panel highlighted that ignoring Mr Clarke would be ‘extremely unusual’ from officers who had assessed a serious mental health episode and were trying to calm Mr Clarke, keep him from harm and hand him into the expert care of paramedics.

“The situation was fast-paced and challenging for everyone who tried to help Mr Clarke that day and his death was a tragedy.”

Cyrilia Davies Knight, lead solicitor for Mr Clarke’s family, said the outcome of the hearing was “devastating”.

But, she said: “Sadly, the family had no expectations of justice as they believe this system is clearly not designed to deliver accountability, particularly where there is a death in police custody. 

“This outcome, while devastating for the family, was sadly, in their opinion, inevitable.”

Pictured top: Kevin Clarke (Picture: The Met)