Oladeji Omishore: Tasered man’s family threaten legal action against police watchdog

The family of a man who fell to his death in the River Thames after being tasered by Met Police officers have threatened legal action against the police watchdog.

Relatives of Oladeji Omishore are taking action against the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for failing to criminally investigate the two officers involved.

Mr Omishore, 41, who was known as Deji, died on June 4, after falling into the river from Chelsea Bridge following an incident with the police, involving two officers, while reportedly suffering a mental health crisis in sight of his home on the embankment.

He was tasered several times before falling into the river, and later died in hospital.

The family, who are represented by Kate Maynard of Hickman and Rose solicitors, are challenging the IOPC for treating the two officers as witnesses to the investigation as opposed to being subjects.

In a statement issued through the charity Inquest they said: “Deji was only a few moments’ walk from his home and appears to have been vulnerable and frightened.

“The two Metropolitan police officers who confronted him used repeated force on him which we consider was excessive and unjustified.

“We want those officers to explain why they did not use their training to de-escalate the situation, and safeguard Deji, instead of taking the actions that led to his tragic death.

“We wish to pursue a judicial review claim against the IOPC for their continuing decision to treat the two officers as witnesses to the investigation and not subjects of the investigation, and not to classify the investigation as a conduct or criminal investigation.”

They are trying to crowdfund the legal action through the Crowd Justice website.

Deborah Coles, director of Inquest, said: “It is vital that conduct or criminal investigations are commenced urgently after a death to ensure scrutiny is thorough and that officers are rightly treated as subjects of investigations, not just witnesses.

“This is an issue which has impacted bereaved families for years.

“This legal action from the Omishore family is an important step in challenging this systemic issue in the investigation of deaths in police contact.”

An IOPC spokesperson said: “Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the family and friends of Oladeji Omishore.

“We have received correspondence from the family’s legal representatives today which is being carefully considered.

“During any investigation we keep conduct matters under constant review and take decisions based on the evidence available.

“At this stage we have no indication that any of the officers involved may have breached police professional standards or committed a criminal offence.

“This will be kept under review during the investigation.

“We will work to complete the investigation as quickly as possible and we are carrying out a thorough and robust examination of all the evidence.

“We are committed to keeping Mr Omishore’s family updated.”

The legal action comes after a separate damning report published earlier, detailing serious misconduct within the Metropolitan Police.

The interim report found that hundreds of Met Police officers and staff have been found guilty of crimes and unethical conduct.

Report author Baroness Louise Casey found that misconduct cases in the force are taking too long to resolve, allegations are more likely to be dismissed than acted upon and there is racial disparity across the system.