Police Taser death man Marc Cole was 'like a lost soul'

Marc Cole had been seen walking up and down a street holding a kitchen knife

A man who died after being Tasered in the street by police had been seen earlier "wandering like a lost soul", an inquest has heard.

Marc Cole had been suffering delusional thoughts before his death in Falmouth, Cornwall, on 23 May 2017.

Witnesses said the 30-year-old had been walking around Langton Road with no shoes on and carrying a kitchen knife.

Devon and Cornwall police officers shouted at him to drop it before deploying a Taser.

The jury at the hearing in Truro was told how a woman walking home from work called 101 after seeing Mr Cole with the knife at about 21:05 BST.

Asked why she didn't call 999, she said: "I wasn't scared. It's quite common to see things like that going on on our estate," and added: "I didn't feel threatened by Marc."

A witness had seen him in Langton Road but had not "felt threatened" by his behaviour

A second witness saw what happened from her house and described how he "seemed lost and just wandered around the T-junction. Emotionally he seemed like a lost soul".

She said: "It was rapid. They (the police) came in, screamed at him and deployed the Taser.

"The sound of it was horrendous. It's a sound I never want to hear again. You could hear the electricity running through it."

Both witnesses told the hearing how they saw him appearing to cut himself with the knife as he walked up and down the road.

After being Tasered, Mr Cole fell against a wall and an ambulance arrived within 30 seconds, the jury heard. He was declared dead later that night in hospital.

Jurors earlier heard how Mr Cole had fallen or jumped from a first floor window after taking cocaine and believed people were conspiring against him.

The inquest continues.