Man found unconscious outside pub ‘tried to gouge doorman’s eyes’, inquest hears

A bouncer ‘feared he would die’ before pulling a man to the ground moments before he suffered irreversible brain damage, an inquest has heard.

A two-week inquest into the Trafford dad-of-two Gavin Brown’s death is currently taking place in front of a jury at South Manchester Coroners’ Court in Stockport.

The 29-year-old, from Stretford, died eight days after an incident outside The Melville Hotel, where he was detained with a plastic bag over his face, jurors have been told this week.

The court has not yet heard exactly how the bag came to be on Mr Brown’s head.

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Giving evidence on Tuesday (November 23) from behind a screen, Alain Kamga told the court he was one of two doormen working at the Stretford pub on the night of the altercation – April 12, 2019 – along with a bouncer he knew as ‘Mitch’.

The court heard that Mr Brown was barred from The Melville and Mr Kamga had known about this for some years, having previously ejected him from the pub on one occasion, when there were ‘no issues’.

Mr Kamga said he arrived at the pub as normal at 7pm, went to say hello to the pub’s staff inside then went back onto the door, where he made a phone call.

At this point, Mr Kamga said he saw Mr Brown – wearing a face mask – running from his right hand side before standing directly in front of him.

He said he could only see Mr Brown’s eyes at that point and did not recognise him.

Mr Kamga told the court he asked Mr Brown if he was okay and did not get a response, before Mr Brown punched him twice, sparking an altercation which led to the bouncer fearing he would ‘lose his life’.

“Then I realised it was serious,” said Mr Kamga.

“He didn’t say anything to me. I realised that this man was at the pub for trouble.

“I tried to swipe the man’s legs from underneath him to get him to the ground, but he was too fast and moved, and I couldn’t make contact.

“I thought I was going to lose my life. I had to protect myself. I grabbed the male by the waist and he ended up falling onto the floor.”

Mr Kamga told jurors that he was on top of Mr Brown on the ground, with his hand on his back, before the Stretford man retaliated by pressing his fingers into the doorman’s eyes.

“I kept seeing this finger on my eyes and he kept pressing,” Mr Kamga added.

The doorman claimed that the next thing he could remember was sitting on a bench about 15 metres away, opening his eyes for the first time after the altercation, with one of them bleeding.

He told jurors that at this point, a pub regular called Stefan O’Donnell was on the ground restraining Mr Brown, with the two men lying on their side.

Mr Kamga said police had already arrived by the time he opened his eyes, while a friend of Mr Brown could be heard arguing with the pub’s manager, saying: “Look what you have done.”

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On Monday, forensic pathologist Dr Charles Alexander Wilson told the court he believed Mr Brown’s death was caused by a lack of oxygen and blood to the brain (hypoxia ischemia) due to cardiac arrest suffered after physical restraint.

Coroner Andrew Bridgman asked Mr Kamga if he knew of the risks of asphyxia as a result of restraining someone, to which the doorman said he had never been made aware of this during his training.

Earlier today, the court heard evidence about Mr Brown’s health from two professionals who had not been unduly concerned about him mental state to the tragic altercation.

Dr Asif Mir, a consultant psychiatrist at Greater Manchester Mental Health who went on to become Mr Brown’s responsible clinician in November 2018, said Mr Brown received medication for six years after suffering a first psychotic episode in 2010 before three hospital admissions in quick succession.

Mr Brown – who suffered with paranoid schizophrenia – was admitted to the Moorside mental health unit, at Trafford General Hospital, for 10 days in March 2016 before returning to the hospital two days later for a short spell.

The court heard Mr Brown returned to Moorside again on April 24 that year, and remained at the mental health unit until June 26, 2017, having had his medication changed four months earlier.

Dr Mir said Mr Brown was ‘never really happy with his treatment’ and would occasionally miss his monthly ‘depot’ medication injection – although he would usually be ‘convinced’ to have it at another time.

Natalie McFarlane, a social worker who supported Mr Brown, said it was ‘in his nature’ to be ‘erratic’ about his engagement with mental health services and attending his monthly ‘depot’ injections.

She told jurors about a number of missed injections, including from October to December 2018, and again after February 2019.

Ms McFarlane said Mr Brown’s phone number went out of service in the month before his death, but she received a call from his friend on April 11, 2019, about his housing situation.

On the same day, Mr Brown had tried to attend a ‘depot’ clinic for his injection having received a letter warning him he could be recalled to hospital if he did not attend, but the clinic was not providing the injection that day and he was told to return the following Monday.

Ms McFarlane said she believed Mr Brown’s housing situation contributed to him missing injections – with his girlfriend being served an eviction notice following a consistent period of the couple living together, before Mr Brown spent some time with no fixed abode.

“He lived happily with his partner for eight months,” she said.

“I believe that had a role to play in it.”

Both Dr Mir and Ms McFarlane said that they did not believe the missed injections were not a sign of Mr Brown’s mental health deteriorating, but instead was just his regular pattern of behaviour.

Jurors were told on Monday that Mr Brown was found in a deeply unconscious state outside The Melville before being taken to Salford Royal Hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma but died on April 20, 2019.

Proceeding.

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