by Phil Miller
at Walthamstow coroner’s court

POLICE officers should not have sprayed tear gas on the face of a black man who had drugs in his mouth, an expert has told an inquest jury.

Edir Frederico Da Costa, also known as Edson, died on June 21 2017, days after drugs became trapped in his airway during restraint by four Metropolitan Police officers.

Walthamstow coroner’s court is now hearing evidence from experts about the circumstances surrounding the 25-year-old’s death.

Senior coroner Nadia Persaud said that police officer “G30” fired CS spray at the man’s face after the car he was travelling in was pulled over in Newham, east London.

The court saw a demonstration of CS spray on Wednesday from Ian Read, a police restraint expert who was a Met officer between 1974 and 2010.

Mr Read described the incapacitant gas as “nasty, horrible stuff, but it doesn’t hurt you.”

“When we aim it at the subject the idea is to get it in the face,” he told the jury. “CS works on the mucus membranes, it causes salivation.”

It also results in a “burning or stinging” sensation, which “forces the eyes to shut, enables officers to get control and put them in cuffs,” he explained.

Medical expert Professor Jerry Nolan later told the inquest: “By causing increased secretions, the use of CS spray at close range could have made the airway obstruction worse … turning partial obstruction into full obstruction.”

Prof Nolan also believes that it would have “substantially increased the chances of survival” if police had freed Mr Da Costa from restraints to allow him to try to cough up the plastic bag that was trapped inside his mouth containing the drugs.

The restraint expert, Mr Read, said new recruits undergo an intensive five-day police restraint course in which they are taught to fire CS spray “straight into the face” for six seconds, causing the target to feel disorientated or distressed.

Officers on patrol are equipped with a palm-sized capsule of CS spray that has an effective range of 10 feet.

The coroner noted that the spray “was used a pen’s length away” from Mr Da Costa’s face.

The expert said this would not have caused more damage to his eyes than if it were a power shower.

Ms Persaud asked the expert how officers should respond if they believe a suspect has drugs in their mouth.

“It’s probably not appropriate to spray that person with CS,” Mr Read replied.

The coroner asked: “Is that covered in training?”

“No,” Mr Read responded, “it is not covered in training.”

However, he did not think that the officers could have realised that Mr Da Costa had drugs in his mouth when the spray was fired.

The inquest continues.