Nuno Cardoso death: Police 'should update bodycam policy'

Nuno Cardoso collapsed in the back of a police van

Police should update body-worn camera policies after a man died in custody, the police watchdog has recommended.

Nuno Cardoso, 25, from Kentish Town, north London, was arrested on suspicion of assault in Oxford in November 2017.

An inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court in July heard that officers used "reasonable and proportionate force".

But the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had been "inappropriate" for officers to switch off a body-worn camera afterwards.

A post-mortem concluded Mr Cardoso died of cardiorespiratory arrest due to combined intoxication from alcohol, cocaine and morphine.

During the inquest the court heard that he was struck by a police baton when he resisted arrest, and collapsed in the back of a police van.

Officers gave him CPR and retrieved a lump of cannabis "about the size of a golf ball" from his mouth.

He later died in hospital.

Misconduct meeting

IOPC investigators said the decision to allow officers to travel together and possibly confer after the incident, and to allow one of the officers to switch off their body-worn video "did not follow guidance".

"Officers in this case were not separated and were permitted to turn off their body-worn video for the journey to the police station for the post incident procedure," the report said.

"This means that there is no record of any discussion that may have taken place during this time."

It recommended Thames Valley Police update its policy to find "alternative measures... to ensure demonstrable integrity of their evidence and a transparent process".

The IOPC report also recommended that an officer who did not check if Mr Cardoso had anything in his mouth should attend a misconduct meeting.

However, an independent panel in June decided it believed he did not think anything was there.