Shane Bryant inquest: Fatal raid man held for 17 minutes

Shane Bryant was confronted by members of the public from a nearby pub

A robber died after being restrained during a raid on a convenience store, an inquest has heard.

Shane Bryant was confronted by a group who noticed trouble at the shop in Leicestershire in July 2017.

One, a retired police officer, had him in a headlock with Mr Bryant restrained for 17 minutes, the inquest jury heard.

Assistant coroner Michael Auty QC said they would consider the "reasonableness or otherwise of Shane Bryant's detention and restraint".

North Leicestershire Coroner's Court heard Mr Bryant, from Birmingham, dragged a female member of staff away from the counter at the Co-op store in Ashby-de-la-Zouch just before 22:00 BST.

A group from a nearby pub came to investigate the noise and confronted Mr Bryant, who was holding a baseball bat.

Mr Bryant was taken ill at the scene and died two days later

As he tried to escape, jurors heard Mr Bryant ended up "banging his head on the concrete floor" and fell backwards into the group standing outside the door of the shop.

The coroner said Mr Bryant was then taken to the ground before his "getaway driver" mounted the pavement, forcing the retired officer to drag the robber out of the car's path.

Mr Auty said the retired officer then pushed Mr Bryant's head on the floor before punching him and putting him in a headlock.

"Mr Bryant was restrained for something in order of 17 minutes and 12 seconds over all," he said.

The 29-year-old was taken ill at the scene and was pronounced dead two days later.

Mr Bryant's family also gave a statement, saying: "It is very hard for us to understand why Shane got involved in the crime at the Co-op at the time of his death.

"As a family, there was no doubt in our mind that Shane should have been arrested for his crime, he should have ended up in prison for his crime, but he should not have ended up in a coffin."

The inquest, expected to last three weeks, continues.