Another 'death in care'

Another ‘death in care’ has seen community and church joined in condemnation against police and mental health procedures this week.

Kingsley Burrell Brown tragically lost his life just days after being admitted into psychiatric services.

Brown' death comes just two weeks after that of death of Smiley Culture, who died during a police raid on his home just last month.

Reports say that ‘Brown was detained under the Mental Health Act last Sunday after he called the police for help because he was in an area of the City with his young son where he felt unsafe.   Officers took him to the Mary Seacole mental health hospital in Birmingham. He is reported to have told staff that he had been beaten by officers en route. Family members say that his 5-year-old son who was with him at the time saw officers assault his father.

‘Three days later (Wednesday 30 March) officers were again called to support staff at the mental health hospital following a disturbance involving Brown. He was then transferred to another hospital where he was put on a life support machine and pronounced dead on Thursday 31 March’.

West midlands Police have referred this case to the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission).

Maxi Hayles, chairman of the Birmingham Racial Attacks Monitoring Unit, has said that Mr Brown's family were waiting to be told what caused his death at the city's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Black Mental Health say that further action needs to be taken and that the case needs to be addressed at the highest levels as it highlights a disturbing trend in black service users who have lost their lives after contact with the police.

‘We need ministerial intervention on this issue. This tragic death highlights the need for a complete overhaul of how people from this community are treated by the services.  These incidents are costing the nation millions of pounds to investigate while our communities are paying for these errors with their lives,’ Matilda MacAttram director of Black Mental Health UK said. 

‘We need to see a thorough independent investigation and the officers responsible brought to account. There are far too many cases where a healthy young black men has gone into the system and in a very short time have ended up dead,’ Bishop Llewellyn Grayham of Church of God of Prophesy said.