Barney Branston and Mark Thomas act in Taser inquest 

Mr Beynon died in Llanelli on 14th June 2016 following the discharge of a taser by police officers. Police arrived at Maes Y Bwlch, Llanelli, at around 7.30 pm on 14 June 2016 following several calls from members of the public reporting a disturbance. Officers arrived to find Mr Beynon, 43, in the street in a distressed state and with a severe neck wound. During the incident a police constable discharged a Taser. Mr Beynon became unresponsive, and an ambulance was called, but sadly he was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 8 pm.

The inquest examined the police response and, in particular, the actions of officers at the scene and the use of Taser.
At the conclusion of the two-week inquest, a jury returned a conclusion of death by misadventure and found that Mr Beynon moved when police approached him and that an officer reasonably perceived that movement to be a threat. The jury further concluded that it was reasonable for the officer to deploy Taser. 

Acting Senior Coroner Paul Bennett directed the jury to find that the Taser did not contribute to Mr Beynon’s death in light of expert evidence which stated that Mr Beynon would have died from a self-inflicted injury regardless of the use of Taser.
Barney Branston was instructed by Dyfed Powys Police. Mark Thomas acted for the IOPC. Both Barney and Mark are specialist counsel in the fields of police law and inquests.

The inquest attracted national media coverage, including:
•    BBC News
•    ITV News 
 

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Authors

Barnabas Branston

Call 1999

Mark Thomas

Call 2006

Related areas

Inquests

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Police Law

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