Llanelli: Spencer Beynon headbutted door before death - inquest

Spencer Beynon was discharged from the army on medical grounds

An Iraq and Afghanistan veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder who died after being Tasered by police had "charged and headbutted" a front door "with force", an inquest has heard.

Spencer Beynon, 43, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, was discharged from the Army on medical grounds before his death on 14 June 2016.

A jury heard eyewitness accounts of the incident on the Maes y Bwlch estate.

He was also seen grabbing a woman's hair and hitting his head on a window.

The hearing, at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, previously heard he had used cannabis daily and occasionally took amphetamines.

He had received treatment from psychologists and expressed suicidal thoughts but in more recent years reported he was happy.

• Former soldier died after being Tasered - inquest

A written statement was read out from Chloe Williams, who lived in Maes y Bwlch at the time.

"He came into the street and had no shoes on his feet," she said. "He was carrying a bong tube thing in one hand, and his dog in another.

"He was lying down on the wood chippings and was doing something to the dog and was screaming at the dog," she added.

'The policeman tasered him'

An inquest heard Spencer Beynon died after being tasered by police on the Maes y Bwlch estate in Llanelli

When another neighbour approached Mr Beynon to see if she could help him and the dog, "he grabbed the woman by the hair", the inquest heard.

"He then ran into a garden and ran and headbutted the door face-first," Ms Williams said in her statement. "He then hit his head on the window."

Two police officers arrived moments later, the jury was told.

"The police said 'stay still and don't move'," Ms Williams recalled. "The man went to grab the policeman, the policeman tasered him and he fell to the grass."

Officers performed CPR

Describing the same incident, another witness, Michelle Kowalski, told the inquest she went outside after hearing her neighbours' voices and saw "a man in the road, he looked like he was having a fit".

"His whole body was shaking. One of the women leaned over him and with that he flew up," she said.

Mr Beynon was "banging on the doors and windows" as if he was trying to get into a property before he "flew and smashed into a front door", Mrs Kowalski told the court .

"I heard an almighty bang, he went down. He was slouched up against the front door," she said.

Ms Kowalski said two police officers arrived and used the Taser, which she said sounded like a "fire work noise".

"Spencer was still on the floor," she said. "You could see him moving in a jerking manner."

She told the inquest one of the police officers performed CPR on Mr Beynon.

"I remember her leaning over him," she said. "It seemed like she was doing it for a long time, trying her hardest."

'Screaming in anger'

Garin Owen was picking up a sofa from someone living on the street, the jury was told.

His statement described seeing a white male on the ground "seemingly having a fit", adding: "The dog was also having a fit. It seemed very strange."

"A female approached the male to turn him onto his stomach and he continued fitting and flapping his arms around," he said, adding Mr Beynon was "screaming in anger".

The inquest heard "a crowd of people were gathered" on the road around Mr Beynon, when he approached a woman and "pushed her, connecting with his hand to her head".

"Another male stepped in and there was a lot of pushing and shoving," Mr Owen said

Another witness, Shaun Francis, told police he had "never seen" Mr Beynon "act like this in the 18 months I had known him".

He said it was his opinion that "he was on drugs".

The inquest continues.