Dad, 26, died of a cardiac arrest after being cuffed in garden by police officers

A 26-YEAR-OLD man who died after being handcuffed by police in a back garden in St Helens suffered a heart attack, a court has heard.

- By WESLEY HOLMES

Liam Brackley was found "slumped on a wall" by officers, who had been called to the scene following reports of trespassing on September 30 last year.

At a pre-inquest review at Sefton Coroner's Court yesterday, it was heard Liam was handcuffed and in a "prone" (face-down) position when he suffered cardiac arrest.

A video previously shared with the ECHO showed the dad-of-two apparently having a seizure while handcuffed and surrounded by four police officers.

He appeared to be put into the recovery position by officers while still in handcuffs.

He appeared to remain in handcuffs for around two minutes and 50 seconds before they were removed.

Two more officers could be seen arriving at the scene around three minutes into the video.

An officer could be heard saying "wake up" as others moved garden furniture out of the way. Officers carried out CPR around four and a half minutes after the seizures began, and also attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Ambulance services were called and Liam was taken to Whiston Hospital at around 5pm.

A CT scan revealed the dad-of-two had suffered a hypoxic brain injury, caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. He died at 12.38pm the following day, October 1.