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A witness told an inquest a mentally unwell teenage boy who died after being detained by police had white foam coming from his mouth while officers stood "chatting."

Mzee Mohammed Daley, 18, suffered a severe psychotic episode before collapsing behind the counter of a fast-food kiosk in Liverpool ONE shopping centre, on July 13, 2016.

Mzee, originally from Toxteth but living in Old College Place, Kensington, had been recorded on CCTV running around the city erratically, part of the time holding a large knife, and had earlier that day told his dad "police and the white boys" were after him.

During a harrowing half an hour period, he had tried to snatch the phone of a woman in Hotel Chocolat and shoved two people to the ground while sprinting and crawling around the shopping centre.

Mzee was initially detained inside the Chips Agogo kiosk, after clambering over the counter, by security guards and staff from Liverpool ONE, before Merseyside Police officers arrived and carried him out onto the pavement.

(Image: Melissa Mohammed)

Today at Liverpool Coroner's Court, in Gerard Majella Courthouse, witness Steven Grey described coming across a crowd in Liverpool ONE and seeing police officers standing around a person lying on the ground.

In a statement to the Independent Office for Police Misconduct (IOPC), he said: "Mzee’s eyes were open, it looked like he was resting, but not unconscious because he wasn’t looking around.

"Around this time also an Asian man approached us, he said the police had said something about a knife and stealing a girl’s phone.

"The police were stood around and seemed carefree. I got the impression they thought he was faking it. They also did not seem bothered about the public getting too close."

(Image: Lancashire Police)

Mr Grey told investigators he saw Mzee move his head, and an officer crouched down and opened his eyes.

He said: "There was white stuff coming from one corner of his mouth. It was white and frothy…

"It was an amount about the size of a 50p piece."

His statement said: "Apart from this there was no other contact from officers with Mzee, they did not attempt any first aid."

Senior coroner for Liverpool and Wirral, Andre Rebello, asked him to confirm how he saw the substance coming from Mzee’s mouth, and Mr Grey explained at one point he was around five metres away.

(Image: Lancashire Police)

Paul Clark, a barrister representing Mzee's family, asked why Mr Grey formed the impression the police officers believed Mzee was "faking it."

Mr Grey replied: "Because when I first got there, I remember saying to Khadija I think he’s faking it, because I have seen a lot people being arrested doing that.

"But then I could see he was serious because he wasn’t moving, and I seen the white stuff coming out of his mouth and his legs weren’t moving."

Mr Clark asked: “Did you at any point see Mzee start to move or resist?" and Mr Grey responded: “No, not at all.”

However Mr Grey was also questioned over apparent differences in his statement and video footage recorded from a police bodycam, which showed three officers were crouched next to Mzee, rather than stood around him.

Graham Wells, a barrister representing Merseyside Police in the inquest, questioned Mr Grey's impression of police officers "not attempting first aid."

He highlighted the fact that Mr Grey's statement said Mzee was still breathing and his airways were unobstructed.

He said: "From a first-aider’s point of view, you have checked his airways, he has a pulse, he is not bleeding... you have been told an ambulance has been called....what more do you say [police] should have been doing?”

Mr Grey replied: "I am not expert, but they were standing over him putting pressure on his body."

Mr Wells suggests that in Mr Grey’s statement it says it appeared the officers appeared to be more like "supporting” Mzee rather than restraining him.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Earlier the court heard from Mzee's sister, Melissa Mohammed, and his dad, Clement Daley.

Melissa said her brother, who had diagnoses of autism, Asperger's syndrome, ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder, had struggled with the loss of his nan, who she described as his "confidante" in 2014, and the loss of an auntie only four days before his own death.

She also highlighted how Mzee had become paranoid after a brutal attack when he was stabbed and slashed 14 times in January 2014.

She said: "He told me he had gone out to meet with someone that he knew, they were going to play Xbox or something.

"He met this boy face to face, and before he knew it he was on the floor with five of them on him.

"He wasn’t aware he was being stabbed because of the adrenaline, until he went to the barbers and asked for help. He asked the barber not to tell my mum..

"He came home and he was just in shock, he couldn’t believe it had happened to him really."

Melissa said the stabbing, which left Mzee with significant scars on his neck, had a "dramatic impact" on Mzee and left him feeling paranoid and "hyper-vigilant."

Dr Rebello asked her who was "the brother you remember."

Fighting back tears, she said: "Always smiling. We had a typical brother sister relationship, we would row about what was on the telly.

"But no-one had my back more when needed, at all times."

His dad, Clement Daley, also gave evidence describing Mzee as a "good lad" who loved cooking, and dreamed of opening a restaurant selling Jamaican food in Liverpool.

He said on the day of his death Mzee, who helped him with daily tasks due to a disability, had come to his home in Tagus Close and the two went shopping and prepared a meal.

However he said Mzee became paranoid and told Mr Daley that someone wanted to kill him.

When Mr Daley said that was not true, he replied: "Trust me dad, trust me, the police are after me and the white boys."

Mr Daley also claimed that on a previous occasion police officers had told him to take Mzee to Jamaica or he would end up in prison.

The inquest continues.