I called the police to calm my son - but he died after they tasered him

It began as no more than a neighbourhood dispute. Yet
within two hours of a call to the police, a 23-year-old man
lay dead, struck in the chest by 50,000 volts.
According to an inquest, the death of Jordon Begley is the
first recorded killing with a police Taser in Britain.
And now his grieving mother – speaking for the first time
since the incident – is demanding to know why what should
have been a routine police visit escalated into what she
describes as ‘a scene from a Robocop movie’.
The inquest heard how the tragic events unfolded on a
summer’s evening in July 2013 after Jordon returned home
from work to the terraced house where he lived with his
mother, Dot.
Jordon began rowing with neighbours, who accused him of
stealing money and said they had called police. One said he
was sending five men over to beat him up.

Mrs Begley, 48, dialled 999, believing her son was in danger

and that the police would be able to help him. She recalled:

‘Jordon walked into the kitchen and picked up a vegetable

knife. I told the police he had a knife and men were coming

to the house.

‘I was still on the phone when we heard police sirens.

Jordon threw the knife down and we walked out to the

garden.’

After a conversation with two officers, the factory worker

agreed to go back into his house in Gorton, Manchester, with

one of them to explain the argument.

Mrs Begley told another officer that six weeks beforehand

her son had had tests on his heart. Her warning was not

passed on.

For reasons that are still unexplained, one of the PCs fired a

nine-second Taser shot at Jordon’s chest. Jordon, who

weighed 10st, was then restrained by other officers,

handcuffed and put face-down on the floor.

When it became apparent that he was not responding, he

was rushed to hospital. When Mrs Begley got there she was

told he had died.

It took nearly two years for the full horror of the day to

emerge at Jordon’s inquest, which was finally held in June.

The inquest jury concluded that while an initial Taser shock

did not cause his heart to stop, its use and the restraint

used ‘more than materially contributed’ to a package of

stressful factors leading to his fatal cardiac arrest.

Jordon’s alcoholism and cannabis use contributed to his

state of health at the time of his death, the inquest heard.

The jury added that police officers were ‘more concerned

about their own welfare’ than Jordon’s.

Greater Manchester Police restricted the operational duties

of the officers involved in the case following the inquest.

Mrs Begley said: ‘This is not about closure. It’s about making

sure that no one else ever has to go through this. The only

way that can happen is a fundamental review of Taser

training guidelines.’

A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints

Commission said in a statement: ‘We believed the officers

acted correctly and generally in line with their training.’

Mailonline

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