London riot custody death family launch liable claim

The family of a man who died in custody after stealing a gingerbread man from a bakery during the London riots has launched a liable claim over his death.

James Best, 37, of Croydon, was awaiting sentence in September 2011 when he suffered a heart attack.

His family claim there were delays in requesting treatment and dispatching an ambulance, breaching his right to life.

Mr Best's foster mother, Dolly Daniel, said she just wanted an apology for the "shortcomings".

Mrs Daniel and Mr Best's foster brother, Owen Daniel, claim St George's Healthcare NHS Trust and London Ambulance Service breached their duties under articles two and three of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The acts protect the right to life and state nobody should be subject to "inhuman or degrading treatment".

Acting on behalf of the family, Kirsten Sjovoll told Mrs Justice Lang there was an unreasonable delay by the nurse on call requesting an ambulance when she arrived at Mr Best's cell.

It should have been summoned within one to two minutes, but it was claimed by the defence that five or so minutes was reasonable for her to carry out an assessment.

It was also alleged there was a failure - both in the system and individually - to dispatch an ambulance once the 999 call was received.

Ms Sjovoll said: "Seconds count and minutes matter. We are talking about medically-trained professionals who knew or ought to have known that this was a life-threatening situation and should have acted quicker."

It would have been a "very distressing" way to die, she said.

Mrs Daniel, who worked as a complaints manager for the NHS, said: "We think that James deserved the respect and dignity after his death that he certainly was not accorded in the manner of his dying.

"I did a lot of work with bereaved families and I tried to treat them a lot better than we've been treated."

The High Court hearing is expected to last five days.