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Deaths in police custody rise to highest in decade

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The number of deaths in police custody in England and Wales has risen to 23 – the highest in a decade, new figures show.

Three of the fatalities in 2017/18 were shootings during the Borough Market terror attack, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

There were four fatal police shootings in all, compared to six the previous year.

Three people died in a police cell, while five died in hospital after becoming unwell in custody.

Nine people were taken ill at the scene of arrest and later died in hospital.

More than half of those that died – 12 – had mental health concerns, while 18 had "links to drugs and/or alcohol".

Seventeen had been restrained or had force used against them by police or others before their deaths, though the use of force "did not necessarily contribute to the deaths", the IOPC said.

Of those 17, nine were white and eight were black.

Image: Three of the deaths were shootings from the Borough Market terror attack

The IOPC said it investigated 170 further deaths following police contact – up from 132 the previous year.

Of these, 146 followed contact with officers after concerns were raised for a person's welfare.

Among those, 45 died following a missing person report and 43 after fears over a risk of self-harm, suicide or mental health issues.

Twenty-one were linked to domestic incidents.

Looking at the latest figures more widely, there were 57 apparent suicides following police custody – the same number as in the previous year, and "in line with figures recorded over the last 10 years".

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There were 29 road traffic deaths, down three from 2016/17, of which 17 were from "police pursuit-related incidents".

The IOPC said "eight fatalities resulted from emergency response incidents" – the highest figure since 2004/05.

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