Jury out in custody death trial

Robin Goodenough died from heart failure

The Old Bailey jury in the case of three Thames Valley Police officers accused of unlawfully killing a motorist is considering its verdict.

Robin Goodenough, 26, of Barton, Oxford, died in custody from heart failure shortly after he was stopped in Oxford city centre in September 2003.

Pcs Robin Shane, 31, Paul Summerville, 25, and John Shatford, 32, all deny Mr Goodenough's manslaughter.

They also deny assault causing actual bodily harm.

He received punches to his face and was pulled out of the vehicle so violently he landed on his chin Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee

Mr Goodenough had been disqualified from driving earlier in the day when he was pulled over by officers, prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee told the trial, which has lasted five weeks.

He was driving his sister's car and was spotted by officers in a transit van, who pursued him into a dead-end street, Mr Jafferjee said.

"From the time officers were at his driver's door, to the time he was handcuffed and under arrest and seated on the roadside, was just one minute," he said.

"In that short period of time he received punches to his face and was pulled out of the vehicle so violently he landed on his chin."

'All too late'

Mr Goodenough's teeth were dislodged, the bone to which they were attached broken, his lips cut, with blood going into his throat affecting his breathing, jurors heard.

An officer called an ambulance "but it was all too late", Mr Jafferjee added.

He said Mr Goodenough's heart had been weakened by his addiction to lighter fuel.

Within 10 minutes of the officers arriving at his car door, he was in cardiac arrest.