Rashan Charles: Swallowed object ‘not a controlled substance’

Rashan Charles. Photograph: Twitter

An item removed from Rashan Charles’ throat “did not contain a controlled substance”, new analysis has found.

The 20-year-old died in hospital on 22 July following a police chase.

Footage later emerged on social media which appears to show an officer throwing Charles to the floor of a Dalston shop.

Last week, angry protests over his death descended into rioting amid tensions between the police and the local community. Charles’ family later appealed for “peace”.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) says its investigation into the circumstances of Charles’ death is “making good progress”.

In a statement, the watchdog said: “The IPCC has now received results of forensic analysis of an object that was removed from Rashan’s airway by paramedics. The object did not contain a controlled substance.

“IPCC staff met with Rashan’s family this afternoon (Wednesday 2 August) and updated them with this information and on the investigation’s progress.

“A post mortem took place on Monday 24 July and the IPCC is awaiting the preliminary findings from the pathologist.”

Liberal Democrat spokeswoman Pauline Pearce, who became known as the Hackney Heroine for standing up to London rioters in 2011, called for “immediate action” on use of force by police officers.

She said: “There were lots of stories swirling around almost immediately after the death of Rash about drugs and many who were quick to say that him swallowing drugs was the cause of his death.

“This was an attempt to shift all the blame onto Rash and take the focus away from the CCTV footage of the arrest which shows a shocking use of force.

“No matter what that young man may have done, he should not have been so harshly treated and should still be alive today.

“We await the preliminary findings from the post-mortem but the fact that Rash did not swallow drugs takes away a lot of the theories being thrown around about him overdosing and seems to put the focus on the force that was used to restrain him.

“Figures released recently that show that the Met is using force against a disproportionately large number of black people, over a third of all uses of force by police officers in the three months to June, shows that immediate action needs to be taken to prevent any more needless deaths.

“We welcome the open dialogue between the police, the IPCC and Rash’s family and ask that everyone respect the wishes to get justice in a peaceful way, but the police should announce an immediate review of officer training in the proportionate use of force.”