Family's search for answers after police custody death

For nearly seven years Patricia Cameron has fought to understand why her brother died alone on the floor of a police cell.

William Cameron, 38, died of a heart attack caused by a mix of alcohol, methadone and other drugs.

Officers in Reading, Berkshire, presumed him to be "faking" unconsciousness. That he was not sent to hospital has haunted his loved ones ever since.

The events of 8 January 2020 led to the sacking of a sergeant. Two further officers would also have been sacked had they not already left Thames Valley Police (TVP).

Last week, the nurse who assessed William was acquitted of gross negligence manslaughter by a jury at the Old Bailey.

With the conclusion of criminal proceedings, the BBC can now reveal the series of errors that led to a "vulnerable" man dying in custody.

To Patricia, "Willie" was "the best big brother in the world". She said he was protective, dedicated and constantly video calling to share a bad joke.

But deep down William had demons he was fighting, Patricia said.

After the death of their parents as children, the five Cameron siblings were split up. Patricia and a brother were moved to Scotland, William stayed in Reading.

According to Patricia, childhood trauma and mental health issues led William to turn to alcohol and substance abuse, and his life became chaotic.

He became known to local police and had a criminal history involving theft and anti-social behaviour.

Footage from police body-worn cameras and CCTV detail the events leading up to William's death.

In the early hours of 8 January 2020, police responded to a call from William's partner. They had argued and each reported an allegation against the other.

After 20 minutes of conversation, the officers arrested William at 01:47 GMT on suspicion of assault.

It is at this point that he begins to show signs of physical deterioration.

The footage shows that within minutes his speech is heavily slurred, and he appears to struggle to walk unaided.

At the same time, his partner told arresting officer PC Leon Cunningham that William had taken tablets and had "got a load of prescription tablets that he bought earlier".

This information was not passed on to other officers or the custody healthcare professional.

Footage shows William displayed no signs of movement throughout the journey to Loddon Valley Police Station and was limp and unconscious on arrival at 02:15.

A panel at a police misconduct hearing heard how officers believed he was "feigning unconsciousness as a form of passive resistance".

This went unchallenged by custody sergeant Laura Murray, responsible for determining whether a detainee requires clinical attention.

Nurse Sean Cregg, the health care professional at Loddon Valley that night, was brought to examine William.

Cregg said he checked William's pupils, colouring and breathing.

He did not check his oxygen levels as the oximeter was not working, so took a manual pulse. He correctly established that pills found on William were vitamins, not drugs.

William was unconscious for the three minutes Cregg examined him, groaning once after a painful muscle squeeze used to evaluate levels of consciousness.

When custody sergeant Murray asked if Cregg was "happy" he replied "yeah".

Guidance issued to Cregg by his employer - Mountain Healthcare - called for detainees who could not walk or talk to be transferred to hospital immediately.

At 02:24, the officers and Cregg vacated the cell, and William was left lying on his front, not in the recovery position.

More errors ensued. According to recordings from that night, Murray knew William was an alcoholic and drug user, and he was presenting as unconscious and limp.

Police guidance states that if a detainee is drunk to the point that "they cannot walk or stand unaided" then officers should call an ambulance immediately.

Custody sergeant Murray also did not put William on what police call "rousing checks", where an intoxicated detainee is woken at least every 30 minutes until they can talk coherently.

Instead, William was put on Level One observations, which police guidance deems "the minimum acceptable level of observation required for any detainee".

Detention officer Jack Camp checked on William through the cell door spy hole every 30 minutes. At a police misconduct hearing, it was established he should have been entering the cell.

At a shift handover at 06:48, Murray was recorded as saying: "I didn't bother putting him on rousals because you'd probably have to clobber him over the head with a bat to wake him up."

She continued: "So far he's been lovely, hasn't said a word."

At 07:04, an officer looked through the spy-hole and became concerned he could not see William breathing.

Emergency services were called, but William was pronounced dead at 08:16 having suffered a heart attack.

Patricia first saw the footage of William's final moments a month after his death.

"If you could see my heart, it would have been bleeding," she said.

"The CCTV to this day, seven years on, it haunts me. I will try and sleep at night, and I will have reoccurring dreams of him lying there."

Patricia said that those with responsibility for William that night "got it so wrong, in their most basic of duties".

"These are the people that are meant to protect us, look after us, and make sure we're OK," she continued.

"You didn't look after him that night. You didn't make sure he was OK, and you did not take care of him. No, you failed him miserably."

After an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the Crown Prosecution Service, Sean Cregg was charged with gross negligence manslaughter and breaching a health and safety law in 2025.

At trial the prosecution argued the experienced nurse's inaction was "not just a bad day at the office" and amounted to gross negligence.

Medical experts testified at trial that William would have survived if sent to hospital at 02:20, although this was challenged by Cregg's defence.

Giving evidence, Cregg said he thought Cameron was faking it and wished he had done more.

He told jurors: "I absolutely accept I should have taken more observations, been more thorough. At that time I truly believed he was OK."

Defending, Selva Ramasamy KC said the duty of care was not Cregg's alone and was shared with the police custody team.

After deliberating for more than 25 hours, the jury acquitted Cregg of both charges.

Patricia said the verdict left her "devastated".

After William's death, Thames Valley Police made a referral to the IOPC.

At a gross misconduct hearing in January, custody sergeant Murray, arresting officer Cunningham and detention officer Camp were found to have breached standards of professional behaviour.

The IOPC said Murray wrongly authorised Cameron's detention and failed to ensure checks were carried out properly to reassess him or request medical assistance when he had not been roused for four hours.

Further, the misconduct panel found Murray demonstrated "a level of complacency, carelessness and a lack of seriousness" and that she was seeking to blame others without "acknowledging her own shortcomings".

The IOPC said Cunningham failed to recognise Cameron needed urgent medical attention or take him straight to hospital as soon as he presented as unresponsive and did not ask him if he had taken any drugs or accurately pass on information.

Murray was dismissed without notice. Cunningham and Camp would have been dismissed if still serving, the IOPC found.

All three have been barred from working in policing again.

TVP's Assistant Chief Constable Darren O'Callaghan said: "I am truly sorry [William] died in such circumstances.

"What happened to Mr Cameron was not right and it is very clear that he was not treated with the care or respect he should have from those entrusted with his welfare."

William's death was not the first to occur in custody at Loddon Valley Police Station.

Leroy "Junior" Medford died after taking heroin in his cell in 2017.

His inquest heard how two officers were required to observe him constantly, but that they were not aware this meant one of them should be within the cell.

After Medford's death, coroner Heidi Connor raised concerns about police training and called for a national review of the delivery of training to police officers across the country.

In 2022, Connor expressed further concerns that "the issues raised around training... have been insufficiently addressed".

TVP said it now had "additional safeguards" for those coming into custody and "enhanced scenario training" around deteriorating health and the influence of drugs or alcohol.

For the Cameron family, Patricia said life would never be the same.

"We should still be receiving calls, having to hear his really rubbish jokes, and for him to phone and mock his nephew about the football scores."

Patricia said she was determined that William would not be someone who "passed away in police custody and be forgotten about".

In October, she joined other families affected by deaths in custody at a United Family and Friends Campaign procession in London, where she delivered a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham calling for greater accountability from public authorities.

Downing Street did not respond to a BBC enquiry about the letter.

"What frightens me most is that, meanwhile, another vulnerable person like Willie may not be kept safe in police custody," Patricia said.

"Just because he had these issues and this trauma that affected him for his entire life, that doesn't mean that his life wasn't important."