The police officer who arrested and detained Rashan Charles before his death has been cleared of misconduct, although the police watchdog said he had “failed to perform his role satisfactorily”.

Charles died last year after he was chased by officers into a shop in Dalston, east London. The 20-year-old swallowed a package of paracetamol and caffeine as he was detained, and a postmortem found that it blocked his airway, causing a heart attack.

On Wednesday the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that while the officer, known only as BX47, had made some mistakes, he was not guilty of misconduct.

The family are “extremely disappointed” by the findings. The solicitor who represents the family, Imran Khan QC, said: “We are … actively considering challenges to the decision.”

Jonathan Green, the IOPC’s regional director for London, said that the watchdog had found that officer BX47 was responsible for some basic failings “and although they may not have been the cause of Rashan’s death, I think they do represent a failure to perform his role satisfactorily”.

He added: “The evidence suggests that the situation which developed in the shop did so rapidly, taking the officer by surprise to the extent that he ‘froze’ in circumstances which were difficult, stressful and exhausting.

“These failures, however, were not deliberate and it is acknowledged by witnesses present at the scene, supported by expert evidence gathered in this investigation, that BX47 did his best in difficult circumstances.”

The watchdog found that the decisions to stop Charles’s car and chase him on foot were justified, and the officer’s restraint technique, though “unorthodox”, did not contribute to his death.

However, it said that BX47 did not follow recognised first-aid protocols when it became clear that Charles may have swallowed something and should have called an ambulance sooner, even though ultimately this would not have saved his life.

BX47, who also failed to switch on his body-worn video camera, will now be put through internal Metropolitan police performance procedures.

Khan said the watchdog’s conclusions were disappointing. “Regrettably, the IOPC, not unlike its predecessor, the IPCC [Independent Police Complaints Commission], has not delivered the accountability and justice that this family deserve and the public require,” he said.

“The tragic and untimely death of Rashan could have been an opportunity for learning lessons so that abhorrent practices could be fundamentally changed. That opportunity now appears to have been lost.”



Lucy McKay, policy and communications officer at the charity Inquest, said: “The IOPC note that the restraint technique used was ‘unorthodox’ but did not find this amounted to misconduct. They highlight the stressful and exhausting circumstances faced by the officer. The same generous considerations were not afforded to Rashan, in life or in death.

'“Much like the inquest conclusion, it is hard to reconcile the IOPC’s decision with the evidence. This death occurred in the context of decades of disproportionate use of force, over-policing and criminalisation of young black men. This decision again fails to bring the level of accountability the family and public need.”

Rod Charles, great-uncle of Rashan Charles: ‘They wanted to characterise him as an organised major criminal.’ Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

The Met’s deputy assistant commissioner Richard Martin said: “The conclusion of the IOPC investigation supports the recent finding by the inquest jury.

“The death of anyone after involvement with police is a matter of deep regret and our thoughts and sympathies remain with all those affected.”

In June an inquest found that Charles’s death was accidental. His great-uncle Rod Charles said that he did not accept the verdict and findings. “Before the inquest sat, before the coroner and jury were sworn in, I went on the record to make clear that this case is going to be a farce and the outcome was already predetermined,” he said.

“The reason I made those statements was that I was patently aware that in the 10 to 11 months preceding it there were significant flaws with the standard of investigation identified and raised with the lead investigator in the IPCC/IOPC,” he said.

“The key issue in Rashan’s case is the question of: was the restraint appropriate for the circumstances and was it justified? But the investigation and the inquest skirted over that issue and focused instead on Rashan’s lifestyle. They wanted to characterise him as an organised major criminal.”