The Office of the Police Ombudsman has recommended that moves be made towards the possible installation of CCTV cameras within police station custody suites across Northern Ireland.
The recommendation arose from a Police Ombudsman investigation into the death of a man found dead in a cell at a police station on 27 July 2001.
The investigation established that a doctor had twice examined the man during his time in custody. Three spots of dried blood were also found in the custody area and forensic analysis carried out to establish that it did not belong to the deceased. A subsequent post mortem examination concluded that the man had died of natural causes.
The investigation concluded that the man had not died as a result of any criminal act on the part of a police officer or any other act for which an officer should be disciplined.
- The Police Ombudsman recommended that a review be carried out as a first step towards installing CCTV cameras within custody suites.
- Mrs O'Loan also recommended that procedures for the release of prisoners should be reviewed, so that the welfare of each prisoner is checked before they are released. In this case another prisoner, who may have been able to provide vital independent evidence, was released a few minutes prior to the discovery of the body. Due to the man’s itinerant lifestyle, Police Ombudsman investigators were unable to locate him.