Tasered man Jordan Begley 'had knife', mother says

The inquest into Jordan Begley's death is scheduled to last five weeks

The mother of a man who died after he was Tasered by police in Manchester told a 999 call handler she thought he had a knife, an inquest heard.

Jordan Begley, 23, died in hospital two hours after he was shot in July 2013.

Manchester Civil Courts of Justice heard Dorothy Begley's 999 call saying she feared her son was about to get into a fight with neighbours.

On Monday, the jury heard Mr Begley was not armed when police shot him from a distance of 70cm (27ins).

'Mum help me'

During the 999 call, Mrs Begley could be heard telling her son to "put the knife down" as she spoke to an emergency call handler.

The operator asked: "Has he got a knife on him?" to which Mrs Begley replied, "Yes, I think", before telling him to "calm down".

When the operator asked if her son, an ice cream factory worker, had a violent nature, she replied: "Yeah."

Mrs Begley told the court that after 11 police officers arrived at their house in Gorton she saw an officer pointing a Taser at Jordan and heard the officer say: "This is your third and final warning. Step back."

When asked by the counsel to the inquest Marc Willems QC, "Were you concerned?," Mrs Begley said, "No. I didn't think they'd use it."

The inquest heard Mr Begley had thrown the knife down and was unarmed when he was shot with the Taser in the dining room of his mother's house.

Mrs Begley said: "I could see the fear in his face. It was like, 'Mum, help me' and that killed me.

Dorothy Begley said her son had no marks on him when she was instructed to leave her house with her dog

"He was just stood there doing exactly what he was told to do. His arms were at the side of him, nothing in his hands. Nothing."

Mrs Begley said when she left the house with the family's dog, as instructed by a police officer, her son "had no marks on him".

The inquest heard Mr Begley was Tasered then hit with "distraction strikes" as police restrained and handcuffed him.

His mother told the jury she believed her son was calm and did "not have a clue" he had been shot with the Taser until he was taken outside the house on a stretcher and put in an ambulance.

Mrs Begley said: "Jordan had marks all over him, all on one side of his face. He had a tube in his mouth. His eyes were slightly open. Jordan did not say anything."

She was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary where shortly after arriving she was told her son had died.

The inquest is expected to last five weeks.