The Police Ombudsman has found no evidence of misconduct by police officers who had contact with a man who died two and a half hours after being released from their custody in 2002.
The man (Man A) was taken into custody at Musgrave Street Police Station in the city centre after being arrested for drink driving on Belfast's Antrim Road in January 2002. He was processed for the offence, and released an hour and a half after his arrest.
A further two and a half hours later a man walking his dog in Belfast's Cavehill Country Park saw something fall from nearby cliffs. Upon investigation he found Man A's body. He reported this to the emergency services, who attended the scene and recovered the body.
The case was referred by the police to the Police Ombudsman for independent investigation, as are all cases in which a member of the public dies shortly after contact with the police.
Police Ombudsman investigators interviewed witnesses, analysed CCTV footage and PSNI documentation, and organised a detailed examination of the location from which Man A was believed to have fallen.
They established that he been stopped at an Army checkpoint on Belfast's Antrim Road at around 9am. He was described by soldiers in the patrol as appearing drunk and agitated. During conversation with the soldiers he alluded to having information about serious crime.
Police were summoned to the scene but Man A refused to discuss the matter further with the officers who arrived, and asked to speak to detectives. He was then arrested and taken to Musgrave Street police station, where at 9.45am he was placed in custody so that samples could be taken to test the alcohol concentration in his system.
The detective raised an action to have Man A interviewed, but interviewers were unable to see Man A before his departure from Musgrave Street Police Station at around 10.30am.
After being told that he would be reported with a view to prosecution for drink driving, Man A refused a lift home and left the police station on foot.
Police Ombudsman investigators analysed hours of CCTV footage to establish what happened to the man after he left the station. One piece of footage showed a rear view of a male, believed to be Man A, walking along Victoria Street before disappearing from view into High Street. This was the only piece of footage in which he appeared.
Investigators also revisited Cavehill Country Park in a bid to identify new witnesses, and a media appeal was issued for the same reason. No additional witnesses came forward.
The Deputy State Pathologist advised the Police Ombudsman that he had not identified any injuries to indicate that the man had been in a struggle or had otherwise been assaulted prior to sustaining the extensive injuries, consistent with a fall, which led to his death.
When interviewed by Police Ombudsman investigators, Man A's wife said she had picked up her husband from work after an evening shift at around midnight on the night before his death. She said he had been depressed and upon getting home began to drink heavily.
The police Custody Sergeant and doctor who had dealt with Man A during his time at Musgrave Street police station confirmed that he had not complained about his treatment by police.
The Police Ombudsman concluded that there was no evidence of misconduct by police in their handling of Man A prior to his death.
Man A had had an opportunity to complain about any mistreatment when he was seen by the doctor while in custody, but had not done so.
Neither did Man A's body, nor the location from which he fell, show signs of there having been a struggle or an assault upon Man A.
The Police Ombudsman concluded that there was no evidence to indicate an suspicious circumstances surrounding the man's death, and nothing to indicate any misconduct or criminality by police in their dealings with him.