G4S officer quits after man's collapse in Swansea cell

A G4S custody officer has resigned after a man he was monitoring in a police cell was found collapsed.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating what it called the "near miss" at Swansea Central Police Station last week.

The man, 30, was meant to be monitored every 30 minutes because of concerns about his health.

G4S said it would cooperate fully with the investigation after its own inquiry into gross misconduct.

The IPCC said the officer wrote in the custody records the suspect was checked but CCTV showed this was not the case.

The suspect was taken to hospital in an ambulance and was later discharged after treatment.

IPCC commissioner for Wales Tom Davies said: "Fortunately, this man was found in time and has now recovered.

"Medical staff had advised that this particular man was to be visited at 30 minute intervals because of concerns about his health.

"There has been a lot of work and policies aimed at making detention safer and our investigation will examine what happened in this case and what specific training custody staff are given."

The suspect was arrested and taken into custody at about 03:00 BST on July 10. He was found collapsed at 04:00 BST and an ambulance was called by custody staff at Swansea station.

He was discharged from hospital later that evening and also released from custody on the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service. The custody officer later resigned, the IPCC said.

A G4S spokesman said it had voluntarily signed up to the IPCC code of conduct and would cooperate fully with the investigation into the incident.

"G4S suspended a member of staff immediately after the incident," said the spokesman.

"A subsequent internal investigation found that the individual failed to check on the welfare of detainees, which amounts to gross misconduct.

"The officer concerned is no longer an employee of G4S.

"We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously, and expect all our employees to observe the highest levels of professionalism at all times. Where there are instances of our employees falling below these high standards, then appropriate action is taken."

• G4S is the company at the centre of controversy over Olympic Games security.

Its chief executive, Nick Buckles, has told MPs he regrets taking on the Olympics security contract, and agreed it had been a "humiliating shambles".