Man's cocaine death after raid was 'misadventure'

A man's death after he ingested cocaine when a bag of drugs "exploded" in his mouth during a police raid has been ruled misadventure.

Officers attended an address in Morewood Drive, Alfreton, Derbyshire, to arrest Chad Allford on 27 October 2021.

The 23-year-old, from South Normanton, suffered convulsions on the driveway of the property after attempting to swallow the package of white powder, Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard.

An inquest jury ruled Mr Allford had died later that day due to the effects of cocaine consumption.

Speaking to the BBC after the hearing, Mr Allford's brother Jerome Allford paid tribute, calling him a "loving father".

He said his brother always "lit up the room with his laughter, big smile and cheeky personality".

"As a family, we're struggling to find words to fully describe the impact of losing Chad," he said.

"The pain is overwhelming and the affect on his son being so young is heartbreaking - he has so many questions that we struggle to answer.

"Chad wasn't perfect - he made some wrong choices in his life but he was not a bad person. He had a big heart and cared deeply for those around him.

"We cannot express the profound sadness and emptiness we feel with him gone and the loss of his presence leaves a void in our hearts."

Reading out the conclusion, the jury foreman said: "We find that Chad died due to misadventure, arising from a deliberate act of placing cocaine into his mouth.

"This unintentionally led to his death."

The hearing was previously told that although Mr Allford had tried to swallow Class A drugs, the officer making the arrest had first called to request police back-up, rather than an ambulance.

PC David Bull was the only officer with Mr Allford when he was first detained, and chose not to turn his bodyworn camera on due to the "dynamic nature" of the policing operation.

He also said turning on the camera was "discretionary" at that time.

PC John Robson, from the Metropolitan Police, who trains officers in safe restraint during arrests, published a report and told the jury earlier in the week that the actions of officers on the whole did not fall below the standards.

A pathology report read to the jury by coroner Susan Evans said Mr Allford had had "significant levels" of cocaine in his bloodstream to bring about a cardiac arrest and the prospect of fatality was "high".

She added the pathologist who had compiled the report said it had been "highly unlikely that any medical intervention would have saved his life".

Ms Evans said she would write a prevention of future deaths report to Derbyshire Police about the level of knowledge officers needed in similar situations.

She also raised concerns about some of the inquest testimony, which included how officers had put their fingers in Mr Allford's mouth during the incident.

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