Man pepper sprayed by Police drowns in Hastings lake

[Benjamin]

A man pepper sprayed during a confrontation with Sussex Police has drowned after running into a lake.

Leon Stent, 30, from Hastings, is understood to have been visiting friends at Coghurst Hall Holiday Park, in Ivyhouse Lane, Hastings.

Officers were called to the campsite at 23:20 BST on Saturday to reports that a man was being drunk and abusive.

A search for Mr Stent resulted in a confrontation and he ended up in the lake at the site, police said.


A force spokesman confirmed police had sprayed Mr Stent before he ran off.

Ch Insp Warren Franklin said: "Officers and friends of the man encouraged him to come out of the water, but before he could do so he got into difficulties.

"Officers used boats to get onto the lake but could not find any trace of him."

Mr Stent's body was found by divers from Sussex Police's Specialist Search Unit at 15:00 BST the following day following "a large-scale search" of the lake.

Sussex Police said a post-mortem examination would be held in due course and the matter had been passed to the East Sussex coroner.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has also been informed "due to police contact with the man before his death".


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-27485138

[Smithy]

bit silly to run into a lake

[Drew.]

I have mutual friends to him on facebook :rolleyes:

[Benjamin]

Oh, so do I. A few of my friends grew up with him.

[smeagol]

so basically the cops murder someone else and get away with it.
if only they could be real cops and use all that so called training they have,. rather than resort to weapons all the time . which results in people dying.
to trigger happy to use their new toys than actually do police work. which would of stopped that happening if they did.

[Marc]

Why did he run into the lake

[Livia]

Why did he run into the lake

Because he was pissed.

[Marsh.]

Why did he run into the lake

To get to the other side.

[Livia]

To get to the other side.

LOL... answer of the day.

[Benjamin]

:joker:

[Marc]

Well he failed

[Vicky.]

I'm guessing he ran into the lake because he couldnt see due to the pepper spray :suspect:

[Ninastar]

dumbass

cant wait for the '****dapolice!!!11' brigade to start complaining

[AnnieK]

To get to the other side.

:laugh2:

[Nedusa]

If he was drunk and abusive then surely the police could have arrested him without having to resort to using pepper spray. In his intoxicated state he was no real threat to the police.

This was just laziness on their part, I mean why not just taser him as well to be sure.

Weapons like pepper spray and Tasers should only be used as a last resort as they may have unintended consequences like the tragic outcome in this case.

[Cherie]

If he was drunk and abusive then surely the police could have arrested him without having to resort to using pepper spray. In his intoxicated state he was no real threat to the police.

This was just laziness on their part, I mean why not just taser him as well to be sure.

Weapons like pepper spray and Tasers should only be used as a last resort as they may have unintended consequences like the tragic outcome in this case.


.

[Cherie]

I'm guessing he ran into the lake because he couldnt see due to the pepper spray :suspect:

and maybe to try and wash it off his eyes, tragic and unnecessary death really.

[Livia]

This report is very patchy. The police were called to deal with this man and his behaviour , described as drunk and abusive, was enough for them to resort to using pepper spray. The first reaction of some is that the police were heavy handed, without knowing what kind of fight this bloke put up. The police have to deal with all kinds of drunken, loutish behaviour all the time, I have no problem with them using pepper spray or tasers. It's impossible to treat everyone with kid gloves.

[Nedusa]

This report is very patchy. The police were called to deal with this man and his behaviour , described as drunk and abusive, was enough for them to resort to using pepper spray. The first reaction of some is that the police were heavy handed, without knowing what kind of fight this bloke put up. The police have to deal with all kinds of drunken, loutish behaviour all the time, I have no problem with them using pepper spray or tasers. It's impossible to treat everyone with kid gloves.

I agree with your comments in principle but I would have thought two policemen could pacify a drunken man without recourse to using weapons. Assuming the man was not armed or carried any weapon the police should have been able to take him into custody without needing to resort to using their own weapons.

[Cherie]

This report is very patchy. The police were called to deal with this man and his behaviour , described as drunk and abusive, was enough for them to resort to using pepper spray. The first reaction of some is that the police were heavy handed, without knowing what kind of fight this bloke put up. The police have to deal with all kinds of drunken, loutish behaviour all the time, I have no problem with them using pepper spray or tasers. It's impossible to treat everyone with kid gloves.

Well your presuming as well as others as presuming, so it is 50/50. What is 100% clear, is that someones father, son, brother is dead and there is a "possibility" that the pepper spray contributed to his death so it has to be investigated by the PCA. I

[Vicky.]

Without more details we dont know if the police were heavy handed or if the bloke was being a total twat. So whichever side of the fence you sit on you are assuming tbh.

Honestly, my first thought on this is if he was drowning, why wait for a boat? Surely some of the police could swim? Or are they not allowed? I know I couldn't just stand and watch someone drown.

[Nedusa]

Without more details we dont know if the police were heavy handed or if the bloke was being a total twat. So whichever side of the fence you sit on you are assuming tbh.

Honestly, my first thought on this is if he was drowning, why wait for a boat? Surely some of the police could swim? Or are they not allowed? I know I couldn't just stand and watch someone drown.

Oh.......apparently now the Police and the Fire service are NOT allowed to rush in and save someone's life, rather instead they have to complete a risk assessment for Health and Safety purposes.

Unfortunately in this case the time it takes to complete the assessment is longer than the time a person can hold their breath. :conf: