This morning the CPS has announced that three officers will face manslaughter charges following the death of Exeter man Thomas Orchard two years ago. Reporter Tom Bevan looks at the background of the church caretaker who had been working to put his troubled life behind him shortly before he died.
AFTER starting work as a church caretaker, Thomas Orchard made a simple but poignant request to his family.
"To us he was always Tom growing up," recalled his brother Jack. "All of a sudden he wanted to be known as Thomas. It was his way of re-inventing himself and putting his troubled past behind him."
For many years, the 32-year-old had struggled with mental illness, drugs, and homelessness. But in the weeks before his death, Thomas was the happiest he had been in his adult life.
"He loved his job at St Thomas Church, and practically lived there. Religion and the church were his life. He had developed a lot of meaning and structure and was becoming more and more independent."
Living a normal life had been a constant battle. As a child Thomas was "always different" according to his family, but he had a passion for football and climbing.
"He was a very quiet child," said his mother Alison.
"He was not rebellious but had an alternative way about him and was always a bit quirky."
At school Thomas struggled with dyslexia.
"Sadly in his teenage years he got into drugs, and as a consequence into trouble with the police," said Alison.
"By the time he was 18 we started to realise he had mental health problems. He became very withdrawn at that point and quite dark."
He then withdrew from family life and made himself homeless, living on the streets of Exeter.
Alison said: "That was extremely upsetting. He always had a home and we never moved away. Then every few weeks he would turn up – not looking good.
"He was first sectioned at the age of 21 and eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia."
Thomas spent a year in the Cedars Unit at Wonford House where his condition levelled out.
"They managed to sort out his medication and he became a lot more capable and independent.
"As a child he was always very interested in religion and the spiritual side of life. While at Wonford he started to go to the chapel.
"When he was ready to go back into the community he went to Seabrook House on Topsham Road, and one of the biggest challenges was finding him a church. That is how he ended up at St Thomas."
Despite the improvement in the days leading up to his death, Thomas had suffered a relapse. There was understood to be some issues with his medication, and considerations were being made to re-section Thomas on the day he was arrested. He had been in church that morning as part of his caretaking role.
Jack said: "We don't quite know why but he ventured into the city centre and was acting strangely. He was arrested for a public order offence.
"It all happened in such an amazingly short period of time. He left church at 10.50am and was arrested 20 minutes later. He effectively died half an hour later."
After her son spent a week in an induced coma, Thomas's mother Alison had to make the heartbreaking decision to remove his life support. But that marked just the start of their painful journey.
"The Thomas we said goodbye to on October 10 was just a shell," she said from her Crediton home.
"When we arrived at the hospital, I went to his bedside, but he was not really there. To me, he really died on October 3 in that police cell.
"We want justice for Thomas and we want the truth. I am more concerned with finding out what happened than finger-pointing and blame. We need to understand what went wrong so people can learn from it."
