Arrested woman died from natural causes, jury says

A woman who collapsed shortly after police broke into her home and handcuffed her died from natural causes, an inquest jury has concluded.

Tracie Cooper, 50, slumped to the floor in Landguard Road, Southampton, on 18 April 2020.

Officers initially thought she was faking her illness, the inquest in Winchester heard.

She died in hospital from a blood vessel burst, which may have been caused by the stress of her arrest, the jury was told.

Police shouted several warnings before breaking into the flat and finding Ms Cooper hiding behind a door, the inquest heard.

She and her partner Nigel Cross were arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm at a supermarket two days earlier, the jury was told.

Ms Cooper was "verbally aggressive" before going quiet and collapsing nine minutes after her arrest, the court heard.

She began to shake and groan, according to police body-worn video played to the jury.

However, one officer, PC Chris Savage, told colleagues: "It doesn't look particularly convincing. I think she'll be fine."

Paramedics, who arrived nine minutes after the collapse, diagnosed agonal breathing - a form of respiratory arrest - and began CPR.

Ms Cooper died two days later in hospital from a brain haemorrhage caused by a blood vessel defect.

Pathologist Dr Basil Purdue said: "Tracie's death was clearly the result of natural disease [and] precipitated by a sudden rise in blood pressure.

"The stress of arrest, an argument with the police, might well have precipitated a bursting of Tracie's aneurysm."

Although an ambulance assistant failed to turn on an oxygen cylinder to support Ms Cooper, Dr Purdue said it would not have made much difference to the outcome.

An internal Hampshire police report on the incident recommended reviews of first aid training and the procedure for calling an ambulance, the jury was told.

Hampshire coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp made no recommendations for further action.

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