Overview
- Liam Brackley, 26, collapsed on September 30, 2024, after being restrained in a back garden in Parr, St Helens, and died the next day following a hypoxic brain injury at Whiston Hospital.
- Merseyside Police had been called to reports of trespassing and a person under the influence of drugs, finding Brackley ‘slumped on a wall’ before handcuffing him in a prone position.
- Video shown to the court indicates he appeared to seize while handcuffed, the cuffs stayed on for about two minutes and 50 seconds, additional officers arrived around three minutes, and CPR began roughly four and a half minutes after the seizures started.
- A post-mortem confirmed recent cocaine use without establishing toxicity versus intoxication, and the investigating pathologist told the court restraint was not believed to have significantly contributed to his death.
- The family requested independent cardiology and critical-care experts, police logs and training records, Ring doorbell footage, body-worn and other video, and an IOPC report, with a further pre-inquest review set for February 18, 2026.