• Leighton Jones, 30, died after South Wales Police officers restrained him whilst responding to a call of a man “in distress” at Glyn Collen in Pentwyn, Cardiff.
• Family and friends gathered to remember the father-of-two in Adamsdown yesterday and set off lanterns in his memory.
• voice.wales talked to those at the event about Leighton, and their anger at South Wales Police
All images taken at the memorial for Leighton Jones, Adamsdown, by Tom Davies.
Hundreds gathered yesterday for the public memorial of Leighton Jones, 30, who died last Saturday after an altercation with police where he was restrained and handcuffed before dying on the ground.
His family, including his mother and brother, were in attendance along with many of his friends.
Mourners drifted lanterns and red balloons into the sky whilst letting off flares in Andersons Fields, Adamsdown, Cardiff, where Leighton was well known and liked. Some people wore Liverpool FC tops, the team the young man had supported all his life.
The assembled crowd spoke of their affection for their friend and loved one, and expressed anger at South Wales Police (SWP), who were caught on camera restraining the 30-year-old shortly before he died.
Ryan Stickler, 28, was among the crowd: “I knew Leighton very well. He was a legend, loved by every person here and there’s hundreds of people here. He was one of a kind.”
“I blame the cops, who else can we blame? He was walking at one stage and he was healthy beforehand. He was a lovely lad, you can see how many people are out here. It shows the love.”
SWP officials have passed the case onto the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who are investigating Leighton’s cause of death.
At the emotional memorial, people talked openly about their anger at the police and their actions that night, drawn from a graphic video circulated on social media.
Many said they were seeking answers about how Leighton died and said that he was seemingly healthy before the police interaction that preceded his death.
Michael O’Shaughnessy, 30, said: “How can the police do that to him? It’s sad bro. It shouldn’t even happen. I worked with him and I was in all his classes all the way from school.”
Leighton Jones was a father and stepfather to two children, and lived just yards away from where he died in Pentwyn in the early hours of Saturday morning. Video shot earlier that night showed the police manhandling an individual they called by the same name.
The police released a short statement following his death, with little information, leaving friends and loved ones in the dark. SWP described the death as a ‘medical episode’ with no suspicious circumstances.
The IOPC later said that police had been called because of a man who was ‘in distress’ and confirmed that he had been restrained and handcuffed. A video shot by a by-stander, which appears to film the incident unfold, showed four officers restraining a man and then cuts to him lying motionless on the floor.
Anthony Debono, 38, was among the crowd yesterday evening and said that the situation didn’t add up:
“It’s bad stuff man. He’s been killed. Have you seen the video that’s going around? You can see that he’s alive, kicking off and then two minutes later he’s on the floor getting resuscitated. What happened in between then?”
“[South Wales Police] are saying nothing happened. They need to answer some questions. When he was getting resuscitated and he died the ambulance wasn’t even there. They’re saying that it took them so long then he was dead on the floor.”
Photo reel by Tom Davies
The force said officers arrived to a call in the Pentwyn area at 1am and the IOPC added that Leighton was pronounced dead at University Hospital of Wales an hour and a half later.
Others who had gathered in Anderson Fields pointed out that this is the second death after contact with South Wales Police this year, following the case of Mohamud Hassan, the 24 year old Black man who died shortly after telling friends and family he had been assaulted by cops whilst in custody. His death sparked a wave of protests against South Wales Police.
And the case of Leighton Jones also has echoes of another death Welsh cops have been involved in this year. Mouayed Bashir, 29, died in February after Gwent Police were called out to a mental health crisis at an address in Pillgwenlly, Newport. The parents, who were present in the home at the time, say excessive force was used on their son and are demanding justice.
The deaths of Mohamud and Mouayed have brought the issue of police brutality and racism to the fore.
Leighton Jones came from a multiracial working class community, which was reflected at the memorial. The reaction to his death has the potential to unify different communities which are targeted by the police, and spark a wider backlash against the cops.
For many last night, they were in a state of shock that this young man they had known all their lives had been taken away from them so suddenly.
Frankie Lloyd, 26, said he would be sorely missed: “I knew him since I was 6 or 7. He was the person who got me into 5-a-side, playing 11-a-side. The biggest smile in Adamsdown. He was only a small geezer but unreal at football.”
“I feel devastated. I blame the police, 150%.”
*an earlier version of this article described Leighton Jones as being white. This has now been removed.
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