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From the Manchester Evening News
Taser death tragedy: Did police mistake Jordan Begley for on-the-run prisoner?
Jordan Begley, 23, died less than two hours after being shot with the stun gun at his home in Manchester.
A probe has been launched into claims a factory worker who died after being Tasered by officers was actually mistaken for a man on the run from prison.
Jordan Begley, 23, died less than two hours after being shot with the stun gun at his home on Beard Road, Gorton.
A 25-year-old of the same name, from Sale, was wanted on recall to prison after breaching the terms of his licence. He had previously been jailed for burglary and involved in a prison riot. Officers had been called to the address by Jordan’s mum Dot in a bid to calm a domestic row between her son and a neighbour.
GMP say they they were called to a disturbance involving a knife and the IPCC have confirmed the force has told them Jordan Begley was carrying a knife.
But Mrs Begley insists she never mentioned a weapon and her son was at no point holding a blade. Mrs Begley, 46, said she now believes her son’s death was down to a case of mistaken identity after she was quizzed by officers on the night over supposed links to Sale.
Sources have confirmed to the MEN that this is now being investigated by the IPCC.
GMP have insisted it is not aware of any evidence to support a suggestion of mistaken identity.
Assistant Chief Constable Dawn Copley said: “We are aware it has been suggested that these events may have involved a case of mistaken identity, but we are not aware of any evidence to support that suggestion at this time. We will of course continue to work with the IPCC to assist their investigation.”
Mrs Begley said: “Just after Jordan had been taken to hospital the officers were asking me questions and one kept saying ‘you’re from Sale aren’t you?’”
“I kept telling him I’ve never lived in Sale, but he kept pressing on it, saying ‘are you sure I don’t know you from Sale?’ It didn’t make sense at the time but then when I found out about the other Jordan Begley it clicked.
“The response was so heavy-handed – Jordan was nine stone and they’d been called out to deal with a domestic argument.
“He was calm and compliant, he wasn’t armed and they could have cuffed him if they wanted to. I cant believe they’ve followed protocol and there’s no way that Taser should ever have been used.”
Police were called to the address at 8.15pm on July 10 and a two-man patrol arrived eight minutes later, quickly followed by around eight armed response officers.
Within minutes, the Taser had been discharged and an ambulance was called shortly after 8.30pm when Jordan suffered a ‘medical episode’. He was rushed to Manchester Royal Infirmary at around 9.15pm after receiving treatment by paramedics at the scene and was pronounced dead at the hospital less than an hour later.
Six weeks previously, Jordan had collapsed after suffering an irregular heartbeat and wasundergoing tests to diagnose a suspected heart condition.
Mrs Begley said she had pleaded with officers not to discharge the Taser because of her son’s medical history. The Begley family has instructed law firm Moores United Solicitors to launch a civil claim against Greater Manchester Police.
An independent post-mortem carried out on behalf of the family found Jordan had carpet burns down the right side of his face and marks on his wrists which suggest he’d been handcuffed. He had also suffered bruising on his shoulders, arms, shins and legs.
A Home Office post-mortem could not establish the cause of death and further tests are currently being carried out to establish how Jordan died.
In a statement the IPCC said: “GMP told the IPCC initial 999 calls to the police reported that Mr Begley had a knife. The independent IPCC investigation will be looking at the actions of officers once they are arrived at his home.
"We will test carefully whether the decision to use Taser and the way he was restrained were appropriate to the situation they found when they arrived and followed the rules governing use of force.”
The Jordan Begley wanted by police was rearrested on July 18 and returned to prison.