Rashan Charles ‘swallowed paracetamol and caffeine mixture’

An object removed from the throat of a man who died following a police chase in London contained "paracetamol and caffeine".

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said forensic analysis showed the object was "wrapped in plastic".

It launched an investigation following Mr Charles’ death on 22 July and said it had taken the decision to release information "given the inflammatory nature of some ongoing speculation".

IPCC commissioner Cindy Butts said: "We received analysis of the contents of a package that paramedics removed from Rashan’s airway after he was detained and restrained by a police officer and a member of the public.

"Following a very constructive meeting with Rashan’s family, we stated that the package did not contain controlled substances.

"We did not provide further details, because the contents of the package are not directly relevant to our investigation – we are looking into the circumstances of Rashan’s death, not investigating Rashan.

"However, given the inflammatory nature of some ongoing speculation, I will confirm that the package consisted of a mixture of paracetamol and caffeine wrapped in plastic."

She added that no cause of death had been confirmed.

Last week, the IPCC said evidence suggested Mr Charles was detained by a Metropolitan Police officer who had followed him into a shop on Kingsland Road, east London, after an earlier attempted vehicle stop.

Mr Charles was restrained by the officer with the help of a member of the public and was handcuffed.

After the 20-year-old was detained, attempts were made to remove an object from his mouth or throat. His condition deteriorated and the officer called for a police medic, the IPCC said.

His death triggered a wave of angry protests and violent clashes amid accusations of alleged police brutality.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said the initial forensic findings would cause "deep concern" following the release of figures on the police use of force on Tuesday.

Those figures showed Metropolitan Police officers used "force" about once every 10 minutes.

There were 12,605 incidents of force against people by officers in the three months to the end of June.

The data shows 45% of the individuals subjected to force were white, 36% were black and 10% were from the Asian community.

(c) Sky News 2017: Rashan Charles ‘swallowed paracetamol and caffeine mixture’