Nurse 'left unconscious man to die in police cell believing he was faking it'

Nurse 'left unconscious man to die in police cell believing he was faking it' Sean Cregg, 36, is on trial following the death of 38-year-old William Cameron at Loddon Valley police station, where the defendant was a custody nurse A custody nurse let a man die in a police cell believing he was "drunk and faking" being unconscious, a court has heard. Sean Cregg, 36, is on trial at the Old Bailey accused of the gross negligence manslaughter of 38-year-old William Cameron. Police arrested Mr Cameron in Reading town centre at 1.50am on January 8 2020 on suspicion of assault, and he was taken to the local Loddon Valley police station, the court heard. Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said that before being put in the van, Mr Cameron became “unresponsive and limp” and had to be carried into a cell. When asked by a duty custody sergeant to look at him, Cregg carried out “the most cursory and negligent examination”, she said. Ms Johnson said: “William Cameron was deeply unconscious, having taken a mixture of alcohol and drugs earlier that night. William Cameron was in a life-threatening situation as he lay motionless on the cell floor. Sean Cregg thought that William Cameron was drunk and faking his unconsciousness and did nothing.” Whilst in the cell, Cregg allegedly remarked: “He has had something nice”. Ms Johnson told jurors the “flippant” remark spoke “volumes” about his attitude towards the man he had a duty of care towards. The defendant allegedly allowed Mr Cameron to be left lying on his front with no attempts to rouse him in the night or at 6am when he looked in on him via the cell spyhole and saw he had not moved. Mr Cameron suffered a heart attack and at 7.04am a police officer looked at him through the spyhole and became concerned he could not see him breathing, the court heard. Ms Johnson said it was “likely” that the victim had gone into cardiac arrest one to two hours before. Emergency services were called but it was “too late” and he was pronounced dead at 8.16am, jurors heard. The court was told the victim had died from a heart attack caused by the ingestion of alcohol and drugs. The prosecutor told jurors: “Sean Cregg is responsible for the death of William Cregg. As a senior custody nurse, Sean Cregg should have recognised that William Cameron was in a life-threatening situation. “Sean Cregg was in the cell for less than three minutes in which all he did was shine a torch in William Cameron’s eyes, placed a pulse oximeter on one of William Cregg’s fingers and when there was no reading, did not make any further effort to get a reading. He took William Cameron’s pulse and squeezed William Cameron’s trapezius muscles to which William Cameron groaned.” Ms Johnson added that the defendant accepted at “face value” the opinion of police officers that he was faking unconsciousness. She told jurors: “This was not an unfortunate bad day at the office. This was a grossly negligent failure by Sean Cregg which led to the death of William Cameron. If William Cameron had been taken to hospital when Sean Cregg examined him, he would have survived.” Jurors viewed police bodyworn video of officers arresting Mr Cameron after finding him in the street walking his dog, Laura. His partner, Theresa Yearwood, had called police to complain about him, even though neither party was injured and she later insisted he had not assaulted her and it was only a “figure of speech”. Mr Cameron begged not to be arrested asking: “What am I supposed to have done?” As he collapsed and began to groan, an officer asked him how he was feeling and queried how he had gone from walking his dog “to this”. He continued to groan and repeatedly asked to be let go as he was carried into the police van. Mr Cameron and Ms Yearwood were said to have led “somewhat chaotic lives” due to their abuse of alcohol and other substances. Cregg, of Newbury in Berkshire, who worked for Mountain Healthcare agency, denies gross negligence manslaughter and an alternative offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Jurors were told it was the defendant’s case that he thought Mr Cameron was drunk and did not need to be transferred to hospital. The Old Bailey trial before Mrs Justice Thornton continues and is due to go on for seven weeks.