No criminal proceedings to be brought against two men following citizen's arrest

14/07/2009

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has advised Staffordshire Police that no criminal proceedings will be brought against two men arrested following the untimely death of Mr Bernard Doherty in an incident which occurred in the early hours of 9th Jan 09

Mr Keith Prosser, Acting Chief Crown Prosecutor said:

"The men were involved in a "citizens arrest" of Mr Doherty. The issue was whether the force which they used in effecting the arrest was unreasonable and therefore unlawful.

Having reviewed all the available evidence, we concluded that it could not be established that the force used was excessive and that there was therefore no realistic prospect of conviction".