Police suspended in death inquiry

Four Thames Valley Police officers have been suspended from duty, following the death of a motorist wrongly stopped on suspicion of car theft in Oxford.

Robin Goodenough was driving a blue Vauxhall Astra when he was allegedly seen driving erratically and arrested in Alma Place on 27 September.

The 26-year-old, who had been released from Bullingdon prison earlier that day after serving a sentence for driving while disqualified, stopped breathing at the scene and could not be revived.

Police officers called an ambulance and Mr Goodenough was later confirmed dead on arrival at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Post-mortem examinations are said to have proved "inconclusive".

Suspension from duty

The officers, suspended on Monday, were arrested and questioned on Wednesday, 15 October by Hampshire Constabulary, which is investigating the death for the Police Complaints Authority.

They were later put on police bail to return on 2 December.

Julie Spence, assistance chief constable for Thames Valley Police, said the decision to suspend the officers "should not be taken as a presumption of guilt".

Both the force and the authority have refused to name the offence on suspicion of which the officers were arrested.