Ryan Vincent: Holiday park guards not trained in restraint - inquest

A security guard who restrained a man at a North Yorkshire holiday park had not been trained in physical intervention, an inquest heard.

Ryan Vincent, 22, from Skelton, died in hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest after being pinned to the floor at Primrose Valley, Filey, in May 2017.

Northallerton Coroner's Court previously heard he was held face down on the ground for about 20 minutes.

Witnesses have told the hearing he had been heard to say "I can't breathe".

Giving evidence on Tuesday, Anthony Hoyland from the Security Industry Authority (SIA) said the "clear advice" from the industry was that physical intervention is "positively discouraged".

He added that the "clear advice is to allow the person being restrained to stand up as soon as possible".

He said training would ensure staff understood the law regarding physical intervention, the limits of arrest powers and first aid.

However, Paul Robinson, facilities support operations manager for Haven, the owners of Primrose Valley, said the security personnel on the night of the incident had not received training around physical intervention.

Asked by coroner Jonathan Heath about the role of security staff at the park he said the job included monitoring guests entering and leaving the park, managing requests from guests, handling out-of-hours emergencies and patrolling the site.

Mr Robinson said all security personnel were assessed, qualified and underwent an interview process before being hired.

Asked if he had checked if staff had been trained in physical intervention he replied: "Personally no".

He said they had taken copies of the licences of the security staff, but it did not include details of their training.

The coroner asked if he had made an assumption the two security staff working on the night of incident had been trained in physical intervention and he replied "yes".

The inquest was told the two security guards who restrained Mr Vincent had worked at the caravan park for a number of years and were experienced members of staff.

Earlier, park guest Greg Chapman described seeing Mr Vincent on the floor.

He said he was "a few feet away" and could see one of the security guards had his outstretched hands and arms on Mr Vincent's back, however he had not heard him "say anything".

Asked if a second member of security staff had done anything to help Mr Vincent, he said "no".

The inquest continues.

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