Disabled IT expert died after confrontation with undercover cops

Terry Cassidy, 45, who worked on TV adverts and music videos before suffering life-changing injuries, died at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, on April 9. He had suffered brain damage during an interaction with the Metropolitan Police Service. The force has suggested he died after swallowing drugs when confronted by officers in a car park off Ivyhouse Lane, Dagenham.

But two witnesses told Newsquest he had injuries to his head and neck when they saw him moments after the confrontation. “His neck was red raw with scratches on it,” said one friend, who arrived on the scene as they were due to meet for coffee. Mr Cassidy’s death was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), but it declined to investigate and suggested the Met investigate itself instead.



“No one is going to get charged for this. No one ever does,” said Mr Cassidy’s partner of six years, who asked not to be named. “This is why they keep doing it.

Because they keep getting away with it.” She described Mr Cassidy as “a kind man” and “a joker” who had never been in trouble, besides a single court appearance for an alleged driving offence. “He was always late,” she chuckled.

“But apart from that, he was an angel. He would do anything for anyone. He was always thinking of other people.

“He treated me like a queen. He taught me how to be loved. I’ve never been loved like this before.

And now he’s gone...

He didn’t deserve to die in vain like this.” She described his death as “a miscarriage of justice”. Mr Cassidy, who grew up in Plaistow, “was intelligent but wasn’t streetwise”, his partner said.

He could barely walk, having suffered severe burns to both his feet in an accident which ended his career in TV, and now mended people’s computers for a living. On the day of his death, she said, he had agreed to hold a small quantity of drugs for a friend “like an idiot”. She last spoke to him roughly five minutes before the fatal incident, when he telephoned her and said he was being followed by four unmarked police cars.

“They’ve been following me since Becontree,” she remembered him telling her. He was just driving up to her flat, he said, adding: “I will be up in a minute.” But after about five minutes, when he didn’t arrive, she called him back.

A police officer answered and told her Terry was “rather unwell”. She rushed to the nearby car park and saw him laying on his back with no shoes or shirt on and a police officer attempting CPR. “His chest wasn’t moving,” she said.

While a friend described “scratches” on Terry’s neck, his partner described what “looked like little thumb or fingerprints. It was very red there, but also a bruise was coming up". She also noticed an injury to his head.

“I just wish that when I spoke to him, I had gone straight down there – or at least gone to the landing and looked out,” she said. “It’s seconds from my flat. I’m annoyed with myself for that.

” She was told at Queen’s Hospital that Terry had gone so long without breathing he would almost certainly be brain damaged if he survived. But he was pronounced dead nine days later, having never regained consciousness. The Metropolitan Police said: “Officers on patrol in Dagenham stopped a car close to Ivyhouse Lane at around 4.

50pm on Sunday, March 30, following concerns around drug use. “When approached by officers, it’s believed that the man inside the car ingested something and then became unwell. “Officers gave immediate first aid and called the London Ambulance Service.

The man, in his 40s, was taken to hospital. “Sadly, he died on Wednesday, April 9. His family are aware and being supported by specialist officers.

” READ MORE: Landlord found tenant dead from apparent electrocution Asked why it declined to investigate, the IOPC said: “Police body worn footage was reviewed, which did not raise concerns about the officers’ interactions with the man. Therefore, a paper referral was requested. “After assessing the information provided in the referral, we decided that an investigation was not required and that the matter should be returned to the force to deal with as they deemed appropriate.

” The Met said its internal professional standards department was reviewing the incident..