On 1 April 1998, Christopher Alder, a 37-year-old former paratrooper, died on the floor of Queen’s Garden Police Station, Hull. He had been a victim of an assault outside the Waterfront nightclub. He had been hit in the mouth and knocked to the floor, and was subsequently taken to Hull Royal Infirmary to address his cut lip and missing tooth. Following an argument with medical staff – Christopher Alder had been discharged from the hospital but still felt he required further treatment – he was escorted from the hospital, arrested for breaching the peace, handcuffed and put in the back of a police van. Although he walked into the back of the van, he was carried out. Criminal law is only rarely used (and barely ever successful) in prosecuting law-enforcement agents who are implicated in the death of someone in their custody. Ref: Scraton, P. and Chadwick, K. (1987) ‘Speaking ill of the dead: institutionalised responses to deaths in custody’, in P. Scraton (ed.) Law, order and the authoritarian state. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, pp. 212–236. Accessed on (20/02/2025)