The family of a vulnerable dad-of-two whose death was ruled as ‘unlawful’ are refusing to give up after another setback in their fight for justice. Gavin Brown died aged just 29 in hospital eight days after an altercation outside a pub in Stretford, Greater Manchester.

Jurors concluded his death as ‘unlawful’ after evidence heard in the inquest showed the events leading up to his tragic death. This included how he had been restrained by a member of the public outside the pub for more than six minutes. But after a third review of evidence, the crown prosecution service (CPS) insists it is still unable to charge anyone in connection with Mr Brown’s death, reports the Manchester Evening News. 

The heartbroken family are now getting legal advice on whether there is any merit in pursuing a judicial review challenge against the CPS. 

In a statement, his family said: “What little faith we had in the criminal justice system prior to Gavin’s tragic death has been further eroded by the CPS’s decision not to prosecute.

“Nobody has ever been held responsible for Gavin’s death and we are not satisfied with the reasoning that we have been given by the CPS for this. We hope that the legal advice we have sought from a specialist barrister will be positive.

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“Bringing a claim for judicial review is a significant step and not something we would do lightly; however, we are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve justice for Gavin.” 

Mr Brown’s sister, Sophie Penrose, told MEN last in February that her family have been ‘left in limbo’ by the heartbreaking saga and want to find closure from the incident.

During a two-week inquest, South Manchester Coroners Court heard how Gavin died at Salford Royal Hospital, eight days after he had been restrained outside the Melville Hotel on April 12, 2019. Gavin, who suffered paranoid schizophrenia, had been drinking at another Stretford bar with a pal before a cab took them to a convenience store on their way to The Melville.

The court heard Gavin was involved in an altercation with a doorman outside, before a number of people left the pub to see what was going on. Gavin was then restrained in a ‘chokehold’ for more than six minutes, and jurors concluded that he received no welfare checks in those critical minutes. 

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Gavin’s ability to breathe had been restricted and he entered cardiac arrest. He suffered irreversible hypoxic brain damage, with jurors ruling that this led to his death at Salford Royal Infirmary eight days later, where he had been kept in an induced coma.

Following an investigation into Gavin’s death, Greater Manchester Police put forward four names to face prosecution, but in September 2020 the CPS said it had insufficient evidence to bring charges. As Gavin’s inquest concluded in December 2021, with jurors ruling the death to be ‘unlawful’, coroner Andrew Bridgman referred the case back to GMP.

The force then made a referral to the CPS for a charging decision. But last October, a specialist prosecutor at the CPS concluded there was still insufficient evidence to bring charges against the four people investigated.

At the request of the family through the Victims’ Right to Review scheme, the CPS conducted an independent further review of the evidence, but it has now concluded there is insufficient evidence to charge. Gavin’s sister Sophie told the M.E.N in February she felt ‘let down and disappointed’, mainly after the evidence during the inquest ‘was quite clear from what we heard’.

Ms Penrose said: “I feel like it’s a wound that partly scabs over. Then it opens up again, but it’s never fully closed. We’re not getting that closure. We are just in limbo and it’s been so many years now, which it makes it even more difficult.”

If the family receive positive advice and go on to issue proceedings for judicial review, the lawfulness of the CPS’ decision will be determined by the Administrative Court, which has the power to quash the previous outcome from prosecutors. The CPS insists its decisions it makes are based on the test set by the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

A CPS spokesperson said: “Prosecutors examined the evidence on three separate occasions and concluded that our legal test was not met for a prosecution. We wrote to Mr Brown’s family after each review to explain our decision and offered to meet with them to provide further clarity on our decision making.

“After the second review, Mr Brown’s family met with the reviewing lawyer to discuss the decision. Our thoughts remain with the family of Gavin Brown.”

The family have until August 22 to file the judicial review claim, which is three months on from the last CPS decision.

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