A police dog handler who arrived at a Perth flat with drugs officers in full riot gear has described how he performed CPR on a 33-stone suspect.
PC Dale Evans, 33, told a fatal accident inquiry that he slapped Stuart Sandeman about five times on the back until the ambulance crew arrived.
Sandeman later died in the Struan Road flat in May 2011.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that officers had difficulty moving Sandeman from a “prone” position on a sofa after they believed he had swallowed drugs.
Mr Evans said a “powdery” substance which “looked like brick dust” was on Sandeman’s mouth.
The officer had used an “enforcer” metal ram to gain entry to the flat occupied by 37-year-old Sandeman, following a police briefing about a drugs raid on the property.
When he stood outside the living room, Mr Evans saw three officers already in the flat beside Sandeman, who was lying “prone” on a sofa, with one detective shouting to him to “spit it out”.
Mr Evans said: “We were trying to get him to spit out something he had put in his mouth but Sandeman was laughing and writhing around. He told us he had nothing in his mouth.”
The court heard that three pairs of handcuffs were applied to Sandeman in a “chain fashion, and officers then decided to move him.
Mr Evans recalled: “I tipped one end of the sofa up, rolled Sandeman on to his side and managed to get him to sit on his buttocks by moving him by his shoulder.
“However, I then noticed that his breathing was shallow and I reckoned this was caused by the obstruction in his throat. I felt I had to get this out so administered CPR by leaning him forward and hitting him around five times on the back.
“This didn’t work so we removed the handcuffs and I compressed his chest by putting him on his back.”
The fatal accident inquiry continues.