Published: Just now
The law enforcement officers’ intervention against a violent man in the subway ended with him suffocating to death. The guards were prosecuted – and are now sentenced for causing the death of another.
The punishment for the guards will be a suspended sentence and daily fines.
It was on July 31 last year that two security guards, a 24-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, intervened against a man who had physically attacked several people on the Rådmansgatan subway platform in Stockholm.
The male guard, after some commotion, got the man to the ground and attached a grip around his neck. The female guard sat on the man’s back and pushed his head down. After a couple of minutes they released the then lifeless man, handcuffed him and placed him in a prone side position.
“Terribly strong”
A film clip shows how additional security guards arrive at the scene, but cardiopulmonary resuscitation takes several minutes. The man dies. According to the autopsy report, the cause of death is identified as “suffocation through a combination of strangulation in the prone position with pressure on the back”.
The security guards, who said in questioning that they feared for their lives, claim emergency protection.
– He was so terribly strong and aggressive, and I thought, shit, he can’t get up again, because then it’s over, said the female guard during the trial.
Prosecutor Lucas Eriksson shares the opinion that it was initially about an emergency situation, but that it ended when they got control of the man.
“Conscious risk-taking”
After that, according to Eriksson, they kept their grip, even though it wasn’t necessary. The prosecutor demanded a year’s imprisonment for both, citing that the act was “gross, negligent and involved a conscious risk-taking”.
Among other things, he has pointed out that security guards, during their training, are taught that strangulation is prohibited and that prolonged pressure on the torso is associated with risk.
FACTS
Causing the death of another
Causing the death of another is a crime which means that someone caused a person’s death through negligence.
Anyone convicted of a crime of the normal degree is sentenced to imprisonment for a maximum of two years or, if the crime is judged to be minor, to a fine.
For serious crimes, imprisonment for between six months and six years applies.
When assessing whether the crime is to be regarded as serious, special consideration must be given to whether the act has involved a deliberate risk-taking of a serious nature or whether the perpetrator has been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or has otherwise been guilty of serious negligence.
Source: Riksdag, Prosecutor’s Office
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Security guards
Wardens are trained by the police and the police are also responsible for supervision. According to the instructions, security guards must contribute to maintaining public order and have a duty of obedience and reporting to the police.
They have limited police powers but are given custody of people who are drunk or behaving in a disruptive manner. Law enforcement officers may also use force if the task cannot be solved in any other way. There must be no more violence than is necessary to solve the task.
In the spring of 2021, there was an investigation that proposes increased powers for security guards. Among other things, they must be given the right to physically search people to determine identity. In connection with the introduction of the proposal in the summer of 2023, the security guards’ training will also be expanded, from today’s 80 hours to 160 hours.
Source: The police, the government
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