British mother tells how her 23-year-old son died begging police ‘I can’t breathe’ in the UK ten years ago as George Floyd’s killing triggers global protests

• Olaseni Lewis, IT student, died after he was sectioned at Bethlem Royal Hospital
• His hands and legs were shackled in four sets of restraints by 11 officers
• Mother Aji said she is unable to watch the George Floyd video because of her son

A British mother has told how her 23-year-old son died gasping “I can’t breathe” as he was held down by 11 police officers in the UK ten years ago.

Olaseni Lewis, an IT student, had his hands shackled with two sets of handcuffs and his legs held in two sets of restraints when he was sectioned at Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, south London.

When his body went limp officers simply walked away, believing he was faking it.

But his brain had been starved of oxygen. He was placed on life support, but died a few days later.

Seni is among more than 180 people from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) communities who have died following contact with police since 1990.

The revelation comes as the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparks protests across the US and in the UK.

Olaseni Lewis, an IT student, died after he was sectioned at Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, south London. He was held in four sets of shackles

Seni’s mother Aji told The Sunday Mirror: ‘They held him over 45 minutes until he went limp. Then, instead of treating him as a medical emergency, they simply walked away. They believed he was faking it.

‘They left our son on the floor of a locked room, all but dead. We struggle to comprehend he died simply because police and medical staff failed in their duty to treat him as a human being.

‘I can’t watch the George Floyd video, because he is saying the same thing as Seni said: “I can’t breathe”.’

‘People think it’s happening in America it’s not happening here. I just want people to know that it’s happening here all the time. The same thing. “I can’t breathe”,’ she told BBC News.

‘You never get justice because I don’t know any case of a police officer who’s been held accountable. 

‘There’s no accountability. And you really until there is you don’t feel as if there’s any justice really. You don’t feel it. It’s impossible. And that’s what pain is really.’

An inquest undertaken seven years later concluded ‘excessive force’ was used on Seni that was ‘disproportionate and unreasonable.’ 

But a gross misconduct hearing held behind closed doors by the metropolitan police concluded that none of the six officers breached standards of professional behaviour in relation to the death.

His mother Aji said she can’t watch the George Floyd video because it reminds her of her son

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found that six of the 11 officers should face a misconduct hearing over the death in their second investigation.

Deborah Coles, director of charity INQUEST, said the outcome was ‘bitter’ for Seni’s family.

‘Seni was brutalised, neglected and failed and yet no one person at an individual or senior management level has been held to account,’ she said.

‘After a seven-year wait, this is a bitter outcome for Seni’s family. We are a lesser society for a system that fails to hold to account police action leading to these preventable deaths from our community.’

The family said, in response to the inquest: ‘When Seni became ill, we turned to the state in our desperation: We took him to hospital which we thought was the best place for him.

‘We shall always bear the cross of knowing that, instead of the help and care he needed, Seni met with his death.

‘The officers involved in the restraint have not been or willing to offer any word of condolence or regret in their evidence, in the same way that none has been forthcoming from any of their managers or superiors in the Metropolitan Police over these years.’

Six officers eventually faced an inquiry, but none faced a criminal probe. (Pictured: Bethlem Royal Hospital)

Theresa May, as home secretary, met the Lewis family in 2015 to discuss the case.

She wrote in a letter to them: ‘It is clearly unsatisfactory that families should have to go to court to quash an IPCC report in order to secure a second investigation into the death of a loved one.’

The family also campaigned for a law which would require that any use of force on patients is recorded, that staff are better trained and that every mental health unit should have to publish a policy on the use of force.

It became law in 2018 as the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act following a vote in parliament. 

The death of George Floyd has sparked largely peaceful protests in central London.

However, ten officers have been injured and a policewoman has been hospitalised after her horse bolted.

Footage shows flares and a Boris bike being hurled at officers attempting to police the street action.

In reaction to the chaos Priti Patel last night said violence towards police at protests was ‘completely unacceptable’ and gave officers her ‘full support in tackling disorderly behaviour’. 

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