Thursday March 4, 2021
By Steven Morris
IOPC says inquiry into death of Cardiff man after his release from custody could take nine months
Mohamud Hassan was last seen alive at 5pm on 9 January, hours after his release from police custody
The family of a young man who died hours after being released from police custody in January have expressed concern that the cause of his death is not yet known.
Relatives of Mohamud Hassan, 24, whose death in Cardiff sparked protests and vigils, also said they were worried by the police watchdog saying it may take up to nine months to complete its investigation.
Hassan was arrested at home on the evening of 8 January on suspicion of a breach of the peace, and was released the next morning without charge. He was found dead at his flat in Newport Road later that day.
On Thursday during a brief inquest opening in Pontypridd, south Wales, the senior coroner Graeme Hughes was told the cause of Hassan’s death remained “unascertained” after a postmortem by Dr Deryk James of the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.
The coroner’s officer Claire Ponting told the court that Hassan, who was born in London and was of Somali heritage, was last seen alive at 5pm on 9 January. He was found by a friend at 10.30pm.
Members of Hassan’s family watched the hearing via a remote link from Butetown community centre in Cardiff. They are being represented by Michael Mansfield QC, who specialises in human rights issues and miscarriage of justice cases.
The coroner said an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) into Hassan’s death was “in its infancy”.
Rebecca Hinton, representing the IOPC, said the inquiry could take up to nine months but added: “We are hopeful that we should be complete within six months.” She said there had been “some issues” with CCTV footage that had caused a delay. She did not give any more details.
The coroner said a pre-inquest review would examine issues such as what the scope of the inquiry should be, what witnesses should be called and whether any articles of the European convention on human rights would be engaged.
Hughes also said further toxicology tests might be needed to try to establish the cause of death. He provisionally listed a pre-inquest review to take place on 3 December.
Mansfield asked for the coroner to consider an “update hearing” before December to avoid “slippage”. He said: “The family are very concerned to access the truth and for these matters to be aired properly. Keeping up date with the process is important to them.” The coroner asked the IOPC to update him by mid August.
This week the IOPC said officers had attended Hassan’s flat following a report that five men had entered the address and were fighting with five occupants.
On Thursday there was a visible police presence outside the coroner’s court but there were no protesters.
Hilary Brown, a lawyer speaking for Hassan’s family, said they were concerned at the length of time the investigation was taking. “The family just want answers – they want to know what led to Mohamud’s death. So far all the medical investigations have failed to identify any medical cause.”
She said the family, who speak English as a second language, were upset that the court had not provided an interpreter and they had struggled to follow what was happening. “There was no opportunity for them to follow proceedings,” she said.