Crown Prosecution Service confirms it will not be taking further action

A police officer will not face charges over the death of Rashan Charles, a young black man who died after a police pursuit in London, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced.



A common assault charge had been considered against the Metropolitan police officer in connection with the 20-year-old’s death on 22 July 2017 after he was apprehended by police in Dalston, east London.

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Despite two postmortems and a series of toxicology tests, the exact cause of Charles’s death remains unknown, with a coroner’s inquest not scheduled until 4 June this year due to a continuing investigation into the officer by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).



A CPS spokeswoman said on Sunday: “Following the death of Rashan Charles in July 2017, the Independent Office for Police Conduct referred a file of evidence in relation to one Metropolitan police officer for a possible charge of common assault.

“The CPS has considered the matter and decided the evidential test for a prosecution for common assault is not met. We will therefore not be taking any further action regarding this offence.”

A preliminary IPCC investigation last year found that after Charles had been detained attempts were made to remove an object from his mouth or throat. It was later revealed that a package extracted from his body contained a mixture of caffeine and paracetamol.

The officer who apprehended Charles is under investigation by the IPCC for gross misconduct for the restraint and his handling of the subsequent medical emergency, which could result in dismissal from the Met.

The police complaints body is expected to provide an update on its investigation this week.

The Met said it would not comment on the CPS decision.

Charles’s death sparked violent street protests in east London, with threats made against police and demonstrators throwing fireworks and bottles at riot officers.

At a pre-inquest review in November, all officers involved in the death were granted anonymity, despite the coroner, Mary Hassell, rejecting claims there was a “direct threat to officers’ lives”.