Fraser Moore was chased by officers before throwing himself on a live rail at London Bridge station
(Picture: Family Handout)This is the first picture of an “ambitious and hopeful” tourist who was wrongfully handcuffed and chased to his death at London Bridge station just hours after arriving in London.
A critical inquest concluded that Fraser Moore, 25, died on a live rail at London Bridge train station after being unjustifiably handcuffed and wrongfully arrested by British Transport Police (BTP) officers.
The Canadian music producer was suffering a mental health crisis and had been incorrectly accused of exposing himself by a Met call handler when he was detained as his train pulled into London Bridge station in the early hours of March 25 2020.
Topless but wearing three pairs of trousers he was being spoken to by two off-duty Met officers for 20 minutes and who told his inquest they expected the non-violent Mr Moore to be taken to hospital after he was heard shouting incoherent things on the carriage.
Instead, when his train arrived, he was arrested and handcuffed with his arms in front of him by BTP officers “spooking” the vulnerable Mr Moore.
After the arresting officers failed to secure one of the exits of the carriage a “triggered” Mr Moore fled down the platform chased by a BTP officer. He then jumped onto the live tracks, fell onto the ground where he was electrocuted with his hands still cuffed to the front.
He was pronounced dead by medics at 6.16am.
He died quickly but poor police communication meant it took 15 minutes to turn the power off the line, his inquest heard.
His family said he had travelled to London to further his career in the music industry. He had been in the capital less than 24 hours at the time of his death.
His sister, Kirstyn De Vries, said: “Fraser was arrested and handcuffed for a crime he never committed. He died terribly and suddenly due to electrocution, whilst being pursued by a BTP police officer.
“Fraser was a hopeful person, with strong ambition. Coming to London in March 2020, there was much opportunity on the horizon to fuel his adventurous and entrepreneurial nature. However, this ambition and hope was all too sadly brought to an abrupt end, and me and the family still feel a deep loss.”
She added: “In my opinion Fraser’s vulnerability and mental health were not considered by the BTP police officers on the morning of the 25th. He was willing to be taken to hospital, but instead he was unlawfully handcuffed and arrested.
“The Met officers had offered to bring him to a hospital, get him care. The BTP officers instead ‘spooked’ him.
“I am deeply upset by the actions of the police officers on the day of Fraser’s death, and only hope that both the Met and BTP endeavour to take necessary next steps to prevent future deaths of this kind.”
The inquest jury concluded that Fraser’s death was caused by electrocution and contact with a live rail. The jury also highlighted the inappropriate handcuffing, unnecessary arrest, inadequate supervision of his arrest, and failure to prevent his escape contributed to his death.
Selen Cavcav, senior caseworker at INQUEST a charity supporting the family, said: "What happened to Fraser is another shocking example of police culture centred around unnecessary and inappropriate use of force towards people with mental ill health.
“The contrast between the Met and Transport police officers’ actions in this case demonstrate just how unnecessary and harmful this is.
“The jury findings in this case spell out all the failures that contributed to Fraser's preventable death. His family deserves nothing less than absolute assurance that proper changes have now been put in place, and that the officers involved in the incident will be held to account."
Jade Brown of Taylor Rose MW, who represents the family, said: “The inquest has been extremely difficult for Fraser’s family, especially his mum who lives in Canada.
“It is the family hope that following the hearing and the jury’s findings that police officers, who cited the National Decision Model in evidence, actually apply it in future”
A BTP spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the jury’s findings in the inquest into the death into Mr Moore, which we are in the process of fully digesting. Our officers come to work to help people. They come to work to keep the public safe. In this case, the actions of our officers were taken with the best intentions, to try to ensure Mr Moore wasn’t able to harm himself or others.
“Our thoughts are with Mr Moore’s loved ones – and we promise them that we will be looking at the findings of this inquest thoroughly and carefully.”
Anyone seeking help can call Samaritans free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org
