Olaseni Lewis | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Lewis shortly before his death | |
| Born | 22 March 1987 |
| Died | 3 September 2010 (aged 23) |
| Cause of death | Cerebral hypoxia |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Kingston University |
| Known for | Death after restraint by 11 Metropolitan Police officers |
Olaseni Lewis, a 23-year-old British man, died on 3 September 2010 at Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, United Kingdom, after police subjected him to prolonged physical restraint. Lewis had voluntarily sought care following the onset of acute mental health issues and died from cerebral hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) soon after, following actions that involved eleven officers of London's Metropolitan Police. After seven years of campaigning by Lewis' family and two inquiries by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), a second coroners' inquiry was raised.
The inquiry ruled the restraint was disproportionate and found the officers had failed to follow training on both the restraint of people with medical conditions and treatment of non-responsive people. Bethlem was also judged to have had several failures in Lewis's assessment, treatment and care. The IPCC recommended a review of six police officers for gross misconduct in relation to the incident, but all were later cleared by the Metropolitan Police in closed hearings. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, the body managing Bethlem, received no charges, though it made changes to its internal processes as a result.
The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Bill 2018, known as "Seni's Law", was passed into British law in November 2018, making several provisions to limit the use of force on mental health patients and to require police officers working in mental health units to wear police body cameras where reasonable. It also required that hospitals record data and release reports on incidents involving physical force, including data on age, gender and ethnicity of those restrained. All reports covering patient deaths must be reviewed by the Secretary of State in an annual review. The law is not in force yet.
Lewis's death returned to national attention in 2020 following the George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom, in relation to the disproportionate number of black, Asian and minority ethnic people killed by UK law enforcement officers.