Oliver Pryce

Former British karate international Oliver Ricardo Pryce was a fitness-loving and friendly Black 30-year-old father from Wolverhampton.

During an episode of mental ill health, Oliver was arrested after he jumped in front of an ambulance in Middlesborough in 1990. Six Cleveland Police officers dragged him into a police van and restrained him until he died. A medical examination ruled that he had died of asphyxiation. One of the officers had placed Oliver into a headlock during the short journey to the police station. The officer used such force that indentations from his necklace remained on the arm of the officer who had held him.

The 1991 inquest returned a verdict of 'unlawful killing'; however, the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled out any charges. Following that, the Police Complaints Authority (an earlier iteration of the current investigatory body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct) said that no officer would be disciplined.

Oliver’s family campaigned for justice and won legal aid to pursue a claim in the civil court. In 1995, the family achieved a settlement of £68,000 together with an admission of liability in respect of a claim for damages for negligence, assault and battery that led to the unlawful killing of Oliver.