A MOTHER has told an inquest of the horrifying moment she first saw the lifeless body of her son, who died after being restrained by three police officers.

The inquest into the death of Faisal Al-Ani heard how his devastated mother had to identify his body hours after his death, but couldn’t touch him.

Mr Al-Ani had caused a disturbance outside WH Smith, in Southend High Street, before three police officers restrained him on the ground.

A jury was shown CCTV footage which showed the 44-year-old, who lived in Quantock Flats, Southend, looking clearly agitated, at about 8.50pm on Sunday, July 31, 2005. He then became involved in a row with a 15-year-old male cyclist before three police community support officers saw what was happening and called for back up.

Three officers then arrived and held Mr Al-Ani, who was suffering from mental illness, face-down on the floor.

The CCTV footage then shows the police car travelling up Victoria Avenue where it stops for a few minutes before it enters the police station. Mr Al-Ani died hours later.

His mother, Marie Al-Ani, of Elm Road, Shoebury, said she was called to the chapel at Southend Hospital to identify his body.

She said: “There’s not a word to describe how I felt when I saw him and the injuries to his face and the bruises to his face, and as I know now what happened to him and the way in which he died. We could not see the injuries he had sustained to his body because we were not allowed to touch him or kiss him.”

Dr Llewellyn Lewis, a consultant psychiatrist with South East Essex Partnership NHS Trust, said Mr Al-Ani had previously been diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis connected to cannabis use.

He first met Mr Al-Ani at Rayleigh police station in 2002 after he was detained under the Mental Health Act. The patient later spent time in Runwell Hospital and the mental health unit at Walthamstow Hospital. He had also been admitted to Southend Hospital just two days before he died.

The inquest continues.