Wednesday 28 September 2022 05:50 PM 'I'm fading, I'm going to die': Asthmatic black man died while handcuffed and ... trends now
A black man with severe asthma told officers 'I'm fading, I'm going to die' before suffering a cardiac arrest and dying whilst held by the Met Police, a report found.
Ian McDonald-Taylor, 54, pleaded for help as he became very short of breath while under arrest on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, on 29 June 2019 but his pleas were dismissed as 'a load of nonsense'.
Mr Taylor, who was lying on the ground handcuffed following a mass brawl, told police 'I'm going to die, stand me up now,' evidence heard in court from officers in person and body worn footage revealed.
He added 'I'm fading' and then 'I'm going to die,' a prevention of future deaths report said.
But a police officer was heard telling his sergeant 'he's currently on the floor playing the whole poor me poor me, he's going to have to go to hospital though as a matter of course.'
The police officer added: 'He's saying he has chest pains he cant breathe blah blah; it's a load of nonsense but there we go'.
Mr Taylor's case has emerged as The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published the full investigation report and summary of their conclusions at the end of last month.
It summarised: 'We found no indication that any person serving with the police may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.'
Ian McDonald-Taylor, who had severe asthma, died while under arrest by the Met Police
The IOPC also today published its annual report on deaths during or following police contact in the last two years - 2021/22. Its findings revealed there were 11 deaths in or following police custody.
Despite repeatedly telling police officers that he could not breathe and was going to die, Mr Taylor was left lying on the street without an inhaler.
Mr Taylor was moved to a police car in an effort to cool him down, but after only a few minutes in the car he suffered a cardiac arrest.
An ambulance was called to the scene and he died in hospital later that evening.
A jury found Mr Taylor's death was caused by acute asthma and situational stress, alongside two underlying health conditions, with dehydration as a further contributing factor.
Mr Taylor's Cousin, Michael Cooper, earlier said: 'Watching the video footage of Ian fighting for breath and desperately pleading for help, but being dismissed and even mocked by police officers, is utterly devastating.
'The police are trained to deal with situations like this, yet they did not do what anyone else would have done and drive him to a hospital that was three minutes away.
Ian McDonald-Taylor, 54, pleaded for help as he became very short of breath while under arrest on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, on 29 June 2019 (file photo)
'No one in the UK should die from asthma and yet Ian did. How many more deaths will it take before the police take seriously a Black man who says he can't breathe?'
Mr Taylor's Aunt, Pauline Taylor, who was represented by Duncan Lewis Solicitors, added: ' 'I need my inhaler…I can't breathe…I'm dying.' These were the last pleading words of my nephew.
'He died on the street begging for help not from just one, but seven police officers who casually dismissed his pleas and even went so far as to laugh and mock him.
'What more could he have said in those moments to solicit
