Sister of man who was ‘chased to his death’ by police urge steps to be taken to prevent future incidents

The family of a man who was chased to his death at London Bridge station by British Transport Police have said they remain "deeply upset" about the failings that led to the tragedy.

A critical inquest held this month (December) ruled that the aspiring music producer had been unjustifiably handcuffed and wrongfully arrested by British Transport Police (BTP).

His sister, Kirstyn De Vries, says that BTP failed to take her brother’s "vulnerability" and mental health into consideration.

As a result, she says her family has been left still reeling from their "profound loss" more than two years after his tragic passing.

Fraser Moore, whose image has been released today for the first time this week, was suffering from a mental health crisis and had been falsely accused by a Met call operator of exposing himself when he was arrested in London Bridge station on March 25, 2020.

On the morning of his death, two off-duty Met officers approached Mr. Moore while he was on a train heading to the station.

They had expected Mr. Moore, who was shirtless but non-violent and cooperative, to be rushed to the hospital.

However, when his train arrived, BTP officers proceeded to arrest and handcuff him.

A “spooked” Mr. Moore managed to flee the police car he had been placed in and was pursued by a BTP officer.

He jumped onto the live tracks and was electrocuted while handcuffed.

Poor communication by BTP officers meant it took 15 minutes for the power to the tracks to be cut.

Mr. Moore was pronounced dead by medics at 6:16 a.m.

“Fraser was arrested and handcuffed for a crime he never committed, “ Ms De Vries said.

“He died horribly and suddenly from electrocution while being chased by a BTP police officer.

“Fraser was a hopeful man with strong ambitions.

“When he arrived in London in March 2020, there were many opportunities on the horizon to further his adventurous and entrepreneurial nature.

“However, that ambition and hope were all too sadly brought to an abrupt end and I and the family still feel a profound loss.”

She added: “In my opinion, Fraser’s vulnerability and mental health were not considered by the BTP police officers on the morning of March 25

“He agreed to be taken to the hospital, but instead, he was unlawfully handcuffed and arrested.

“The Met officials had offered to take him to a hospital and take care of him.

“BTP officers “scared” him instead.

“I am deeply upset by the actions of police officers on the day of Fraser’s death and only hope that both the Met and BTP strive to take the next steps necessary to prevent future deaths of this nature.”

Selen Cavcav a senior Caseworker at INQUEST, a charity supporting the family said: "What happened to Fraser is another shocking example of police culture centred around unnecessary and inappropriate use of force towards people with mental ill health.

“The contrast between the Met and Transport police officers’ actions in this case demonstrate just how unnecessary and harmful this is.

“The jury findings in this case spell out all the failures that contributed to Fraser’s preventable death.

“His family deserves nothing less than absolute assurance that proper changes have now been put in place, and that the officers involved in the incident will be held to account."

A BTP spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the jury’s findings in the inquest into the death into Mr Moore, which we are in the process of fully digesting.

“Our officers come to work to help people. They come to work to keep the public safe. In this case, the actions of our officers were taken with the best intentions, to try to ensure Mr Moore wasn’t able to harm himself or others.

“Our thoughts are with Mr Moore’s loved ones – and we promise them that we will be looking at the findings of this inquest thoroughly and carefully.”

Anyone seeking help can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org