page_title: Death of Christopher Alder
section_title: Queen's Gardens Police Station
hierarchical_section_title: Death of Christopher Alder / Events leading to death / Queen's Gardens Police Station
caption_attribution_description: English: Hull Central Police Station These Police offices are situated on Queen's Dock Avenue.
context_page_description: Christopher Alder was a trainee computer programmer and former British Army paratrooper who had served in the Falklands War and was commended for his service with the Army in Northern Ireland. He died while in police custody at Queen's Gardens Police Station, Kingston upon Hull, in April 1998. The case became a cause célèbre for civil rights campaigners in the United Kingdom. He had earlier been the victim of an assault outside a nightclub and was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where, possibly as a result of his head injury, staff said his behaviour was "extremely troublesome." He was escorted from the hospital by two police officers who arrested him to prevent a breach of the peace.
  On arrival at the police station Alder was "partially dragged and partially carried," handcuffed and unconscious, from a police van and placed on the floor of the custody suite. Officers laughed and joked between themselves and speculated that Alder was faking illness. Twelve minutes later one of the officers present noticed that Alder was not making any breathing noises and although resuscitation was attempted, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
context_section_description: On arrival at the police station following a journey of approximately six minutes, the van doors were opened and the police described Alder being found "asleep" and "snoring." He was dragged from the van and into the custody suite at 3.46 am by PCs Dawson and Blakey, "unresponsive" and with his hands handcuffed behind his back, his legs and feet dragging along the floor and his face just above the ground. His trousers and underpants had been pulled down to his knees, possibly by dragging on the floor surface, and one of his shoes had come off. A/PS Ellerington followed them in. Two police officers, Police Sergeant (PS) John Dunn and PC Matthew Barr, were already present on duty in the custody suite. Dunn was the custody officer and Barr was the cell warder. 
  Dawson and Blakey left Alder lying face down on the floor, where the CCTV showed a pool of blood forming around his mouth. One of the officers commented on the blood, but no attempt was made to examine Alder. PS Dunn was heard on the CCTV footage saying that Alder should be taken to the hospital, to which Dawson and Blakey reply that they had just come from there and that they believe Alder is feigning unconsciousness. Dawson said: "This is acting now" and "This is just an acting thing," while Blakey said: "He's right as rain... This is a show, this" and "He kept doing dying swan acts falling off the [hospital] trolley." A/PS Ellerington also stated later that he believed Alder was "feigning deep sleep." PS Dunn stated that he: "formed the opinion, from what I was told, that the man's behaviour at the present time may be play-acting or attention seeking." 
  After a few minutes the handcuffs were removed; Alder's arms remained unmoving behind his back, and no attempt was made to examine or rouse him. The officers moved to the opposite side of the counter while a discussion took place about what offences he should be charged with and whether there was any possible justification for holding him, as any potential for breach of peace had clearly passed. Alder could be heard making "gurgling" noises as he breathed in and out through the pool of blood around his face. PS Dunn later explained that although he was aware of the gurgling he ignored it, believing Alder was deliberately blowing through the blood to "try and upset" the officers. PC Barr stated later that he had believed the noises "were intended for our attention, in other words he was putting it on, which fitted neatly into what we had been told by PC Dawson."
  The audio track of the CCTV footage appears to show that the officers made monkey noises, a common form of racist abuse against black people. At 3.57 am PC Barr pointed out that Alder was not making any noise and PS Dunn walked around the counter to check him. The officers began resuscitation attempts and called for an ambulance at 3.59 am. It arrived at 4.04 am, operated by the same crew which had earlier transported Alder from The Waterfront Club to the Hull Royal Infirmary. 
  Although the crew had been informed that the casualty had "breathing difficulty," the only equipment that they took into the custody suite was a bag valve mask. The paramedic admitted later that when they had received the call out, he had told his colleague "that it would probably be someone trying to pull a sickie [ie feigning illness] to get out of appearing in court in the morning." He had to return to the ambulance outside to collect the necessary equipment, not returning until another minute had elapsed. The ambulance technician who first examined Alder reported him as having fixed, dilated pupils, no pulse and not breathing. They eventually ceased CPR at 4.35 am.
  Alder's clothes were subsequently destroyed by a West Yorkshire Police team investigating the death and never subjected to forensic examination.
caption: Queen's Gardens Police Station, Hull.
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