Man that died in London police custody told officers he was in withdrawal

Man that died in London police custody told officers he was in withdrawal.

The Coroner’s Inquest looking into the separate deaths of two London men who were in police custody three years apart heard more evidence on Wednesday from officers who were on duty.

The jury has heard that 34-year-old Fabian Hart was arrested in February 2021 and taken to the cells at London Police Headquarters.

Hart told officers that he was an alcoholic, and hours later he became ill - telling officers that he may be going through alcohol withdrawal.

Sgt. Mike Muscat was one of the officers dealing with Hart and he told the inquest they were monitoring his condition closely.

He said Hart started shaking after a while, “He said to me, ‘I’m not going to [the] hospital.‘”

However the officer said that over time that changed, “As soon as I realized he was having a seizure I called EMS.”

Hart would eventually stop breathing and was rushed to hospital where he would be pronounced dead. His cause of death would later be revealed as methamphetamine toxicity.

The Coroner’s Inquest is looking into the deaths of Hart and another man, 55-year0-old Christopher Campbell who also died while in police custody in 2018.