Sam Diatta: Man restrained in jewellers not killed unlawfully – coroner

A man who died after being restrained for seven minutes in a York jewellery shop was not killed unlawfully, a coroner found.

Sam Diatta, 39, went into cardiac arrest while being held face down in Mappin and Webb jewellers following an altercation with a security guard on 26 July 2022.

Diatta was suffering an acute mental health episode when he went in and told Gary Prothero he had 18,000 TikTok followers and wanted to take pictures of watches, demanding three free watches in return, the inquest heard.

When Prothero asked him to leave, he threw punches at him until he was restrained by the guard and customers. North Yorkshire coroner Jon Heath concluded his death did not amount to manslaughter.

CCTV footage showed Diatta, who had bipolar disorder, being tackled to the floor by Prothero and another customer, with two further members of the public coming to help, meaning he was being held down by four men when police arrived.

Two pathologists said that the medical cause of death was hypertensive heart disease combined with the effects of being restrained, with one telling the inquest that the position Diatta was being held in would have reduced his breathing.

North Yorkshire Police arrested four men after Diatta’s death, but later said no one would face any charges.

On Thursday, the coroner said Diatta’s family had asked him to consider that the “disproportionate use of restraint was an unlawful act” as it was “dangerous and likely to cause injury”.

But Heath said none of the four men knew of Diatta’s mental health issues or heart condition and did not believe he was struggling to breathe.