Police called to disturbance in Barrow used stun gun to subdue man in his 20s, who later died in hospital

This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

A man in his 20s has died in Cumbria after being shot with a Taser by police during his arrest.

Police were called to Hartington Street in Barrow at 6.30pm on Tuesday following reports of a man causing a disturbance.

A Taser was used during the arrest and the man later complained of feeling unwell. He was taken to hospital, where he died.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been called in.

The man has not been formally identified but was named locally as Dale Burns.

A friend, who did not want to be identified, said: "Dale worked the doors around here at different pubs. He had a girlfriend and two young kids, aged four and two and a half.

"I went to the hospital last night and his mum Donna was there. She didn't know why he had been Tasered or what had happened.

"Apparently he had been Tasered three times.

"Dale was a really good lad, we went to the gym together, he'd been going since he was 15."

A Cumbria police spokesman said: "Neighbourhood police officers attended the scene and arrested a male on suspicion of causing criminal damage and, during the arrest, a Taser was deployed.

"The man became unwell following the arrest and was taken to Furness general hospital by officers.

"At around 9pm the man, who was in his 20s and lived locally, was pronounced dead."

Stan Dewhurst, the owner of Flexappeal gym in Barrow-in-Furness, said: "Dale was a good lad, he worked for me at the gym for five years. He worked as a gym instructor but he would lock up for me and look after things while I was away.

"He entered bodybuilding competitions, regional and national, and was into his sports."

He said Mr Burns had won three gold medals in a judo competition this year. He was "very dedicated and hardworking and was a good dad".

"This year he entered a judo competition and won three gold medals. Today was his daughter's fourth birthday."

It is believed Mr Burns was in his flat on Hartington Street when the police were called, and that there were no others present in the flat.

The last person in Britain to die after being Tasered was Brian Loan, 47, from Sacriston, County Durham, in October 2006. An inquest into his death ruled he had died of heart problems.

But his sister, Barbara Hodgson, said the father-of-seven was in good health, ate well, took regular exercise and had never complained of chest pains.

She said his death was the result of police action and the use of the controversial Taser gun, which discharges up to 50,000 volts and has been used repeatedly in the north-east. Loan died after a two and a half hour siege at his home.