Doctor 'warned police were killing reveller'

Luke Rhoden

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

A DOCTOR has told how he warned police officers they were "killing" a former Oldham Roughyeds rugby league star by holding a baton across his neck.

Luke Rhoden (25), who played youth rugby for Wigan Warriors and England before joining Oldham in 2010, died from a suspected heart attack during a stag party in Ibiza.

Luke, who Spanish police said was suffering from a "delirious episode" after taking high-strength cocaine, thought people wanted to kill him, Bolton Coroner's Court was told.

The holidaymaker had left his room at the Ibiza Rocks hotel, dropped off a roof canopy and ran into a restaurant before he was detained by police.

The inquest is examining the circumstances around his death in September 2014. Witnesses said he was violently beaten by police on the ground.

Still images from a video that show Luke Rhoden, from Ince, Wigan, apparently being restrained by Spanish police at a hotel in Ibiza. Witnesses say he was "violently beaten".

Dr Santiago Akoskin, a physician with 32 years' experience, was the first medic at the scene and told the jury Luke shouldn't have died.

He said Luke was lying on the floor and kicking out when he arrived, and Guardia Civil officers were handcuffing him.

The doctor said he thought Luke was aggressive because of drugs but should have been treated as a patient not a "delinquent" after being subdued. He gave Luke a shot of Valium and said his heart rate was very high, but said police had held a telescopic baton across his neck and tied his legs.

Dr Akoskin said: "Then they changed and put a strong baton to the neck. I said 'you are going to asphyxiate him... you are going to kill him'.

"I said 'you are killing him, you are asphyxiating him. You have to stop'."

He said police responded by saying: "We know what we are doing."

Dr Akoskin said Luke was "losing power" and the police stopped ­- but he feared it was too late.

"I said to the police he is a patient. You have to take care as a patient. He is not a robber. They said 'we know what to do'. He [Luke] needed oxygen because the heart is very quick but they [police] could not understand it."

The Spanish medic said police held a stick across his neck for more than five minutes and described the action as "very, very dangerous".

"I say very clear to the police this is a dangerous practice," he said. "Three times I say to the police. They heard me very clear. I said you are asphyxiating him. I said they were killing him. I am very disappointed and very angry because someone in this condition must not die. I am not against the police. I want the truth."

Det Insp Matthew Moore, of GMP, said a similar incident in England would attract an investigation from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, but said GMP have had "no response" from the Spanish police to repeated requests for statements.

Toxicology tests in Spain revealed cocaine and a cutting agent in Luke's system.

A bag of cocaine said to be "five times the strength" of cocaine in England was found in his room with a rolled-up five Euro note, the jury heard.

Proceeding