Poole man 'died after being restrained by police' Published duration 16 September 2019

image copyright Family handout image caption Douglas Oak was "gifted, kind and gentle", his mother told the inquest

A man seen running in traffic in a state of "excited delirium" was restrained by police before falling ill and later dying, an inquest has heard.

Douglas Oak, 35, had taken cocaine when he threw himself on to a police car in the Branksome Park area of Poole, Bournemouth Coroner's Court heard.

He suffered a cardiac arrest as officers restrained him and died the following day on 12 April 2017.

His mother told the hearing he was "gifted, genuine, kind and gentle".

A post-mortem examination found Mr Oak, from Poole, died from "cocaine intoxication, excitement, exertion, restraint and hyperthermia with terminal bronchopneumonia".

An inquest jury was told it would examine the roles of Dorset Police, South Western Ambulance Service and Poole Hospital in the death.

image copyright Family handout image caption Mr Oak suffered a cardiac arrest as police officers restrained him

Police restrained Mr Oak after identifying him as suffering from an episode of acute behavioural disturbance, also known as excited delirium, coroner Rachael Griffin said.

He went into cardiac arrest but was resuscitated before being taken to Poole Hospital where he died the following morning, the hearing was told.

His parents, Christine and John Oak, were on holiday abroad when they received a call from a neighbour explaining that he was out on the street with no shoes on and claiming "someone was going to harm him".

Mrs Oak said she had asked her neighbour to put him on the phone to her, without success.

"I was convinced if I could have spoken to him I could calm him as I had before," she said.

Mrs Oak said she and her husband travelled back to the UK and visited their son in intensive care before his life support machine was switched off.

Paying tribute, she said her son had studied for a degree in operations management at the University of Nottingham and gained a masters from the University of Portsmouth, before working in software design and setting up his own business.

The inquest, which is expected to last up to five weeks, continues.