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Camden New Journal - By ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 3 May 2007

Dominica Tramantano

Police warned over addict’s cell death

Four officers reprimanded after drug overdose tragedy

FOUR police officers at the centre of an internal investigation into the death of a drug addict in police custody have been reprimanded for misconduct.
Enzo Stompanato, 47, died in a Holborn police cell in December 2002 from a drug overdose, after being arrested for his own safety following reports of him “dancing in the middle of Euston Road with a needle hanging out of his arm”.
An inquest into his death subsequently revealed how police officers at Holborn, worried by Mr Stompanato’s “erratic behaviour”, agreed to carry out 15-minute checks, but failed to include physical tests to make sure he was conscious.
They also called for a doctor but failed to stress the seriousness of Mr Stompanato’s condition.
A St Pancras inquest was delayed until October last year while prosecutors first brought charges against custody officer Sergeant Matthew Walters and jailer PC Simon Jefferson, before withdrawing them.
But the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) revealed this week that it agreed with the Metropolitan Police’s recommendations regarding misconduct.
A statement adds: “As a result, the two arresting officers will be given words of advice and the two custody officers will be given written warnings and guidance.”
Following last year’s inquest, St Pancras coroner Dr Andrew Reid called for nurses to be put in police cells.
He said at the time he intended to recommend further changes in the custody system, bearing in mind it was the third case relating to the deaths of detainees in police cells or in hospital he had heard in four years.
Mr Stompanato’s mother, Dominica Tramantano, flew in from Milan for the inquest, claiming in court there were “dark matters” behind her son’s death.
She told the inquest: “Enzo’s death could be brought by the drugs but those that were close to him didn’t do anything. They abandoned him.”
Speaking of the son whose photograph she carries around in her handbag, she said: “I will always keep him here in my heart. As far as I’m concerned he’s not dead.”

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