Panel chairwoman Ms Elliott told the misconduct hearing the inquest’s findings were “correct” and “not in dispute”.
“On a couple of occasions, it is possible that the words ‘I can’t breathe’ were said.
“His speech was so muffled that one couldn’t be confident of this.”
She added that there was “nothing to indicate” that any of the officers present at the scene heard these words, and that it would be “extremely unusual if any of these officers had heard these words and simply ignored them”.
Following the hearing, the family’s lawyer Cyrilia Davies Knight said: “Sadly, the family had no expectations of justice as they believe this system is clearly not designed to deliver accountability, particularly where there is a death in police custody.
“This outcome, while devastating for the family, was sadly, in their opinion, inevitable.”
