THAMES Valley Police has apologised to the family of Leroy Junior Medford, who died while in custody in Reading in 2017.
Mr Medford, known as Junior, had been arrested on suspicion of assault in April 2017, and taken into custody.
Police officers had failed to find drugs that he had concealed.
CCTV later witnessed him ingesting a small package he had concealed, shortly after which he collapsed and died.
He was survived by his eight children and eight siblings.
Deputy Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Jason Hogg, wrote to the family of Mr Medford, apologising for the death, and the “grief and distress that this has caused to Junior’s children and siblings.”
The letter also acknowledged that the death had been avoidable and that the human rights of both Mr Medford and his family had been breached.
After being arrested on suspicion of assault, Mr Medford was taken into custody at Loddon Valley Police Station.
Officers had been informed that he had concealed drugs on his person, leading to a strip search and internal scan, though nothing was found.
Overall, he was searched three times.
Two officers were instructed to keep him under constant observation, however a 2019 inquest heard that officers were unaware that this required one of them to remain in the cell.
Instead, it was interpreted by them that he should be observed from outside of the cell.
The inquest heard that officers had not seen Mr Medford ingesting the package he had concealed, which contained heroin, and led to his later collapse, and subsequent death.
His sister, Marilyn Medford-Hawkins, speaking to the BBC, said that the incident had been “absolutely devastating for the family.”
She added that it had affected her health, and that “the people that were supposed to look after Junior neglected him, they left him to die.”
The inquest into Mr Medford’s death included a call for a national review of training procedures across the country from the coroner.
In his letter to the family, Mr Hogg acknowledged there was a failure to comply with procedures, and said: “While we appreciate that no words will heal the pain of Junior’s death, we hope that this letter of apology may offer you a measure of comfort.”
Rachel Harger, the family’s lawyer, said: “Independent medical expert evidence obtained during the inquest was unequivocal that, had there been earlier medical intervention, Junior would have survived.
“The reason he did not have this intervention was a direct consequence of Thames Valley Police officers’ failures yet it has taken over five years to publicly acknowledge that Junior’s death was avoidable and to apologise to Junior’s family for these failures.”
Mr Medford’s death sparked an investigation into the two officers under whose observation he was supposed to have been, with each being investigated for misconduct.
The case against one of the officers was proven misconduct, though the other officer had retired before proceedings could begin against them.
