Terror Police Tasered Man in Coma

[Moridin]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_yorkshire/7096456.stm

A man who had gone into a diabetic coma on a bus in Leeds was shot twice with a Taser gun by police who feared he may have been a security threat.

Mr Gaubert, 34, said he was suffering severe post-traumatic stress as a result of the shooting.

Mr Gaubert, who lives in Leeds, said he had now decided to speak out after the Crown Prosecution Service ruled no officers involved should be charged with any criminal offences.

Mr Gaubert said he was told the police believed he looked "Egyptian".

I'm, for a lack of better words, stunned.

 

[Evo]

I'm sorry but post traumatic stress disorder doesn't fit here. I have first hand knowledge of the syndrome from when my kids and I were in an elevator that exploded. For years my kids could not enter a building without being terrified. Mainly my oldest, she could not even go into a public restroom, she would be screaming and hysterical, she couldn't go into an elevator obviously, but she also could not go into a stairwell, or any public place which had a door. You cannot imagine what this did to their lives. They could not let me out of their site due to nightmares every night that I was killed in an explosion. THAT is post traumatic stress disorder, you have to be incapacitated by what has happened.

This guy

Mr Gaubert's solicitor Ifti Manzoor said the incident had clear parallels with the shooting of Mr Menezes at Stockwell tube station and showed there was evidence of a breakdown in communication between the police on the ground and their commanders.

Mr Gaubert said: "When I heard about that Brazilian man in London I just thought, 'oh no, that could have been me'."

Mr Manzoor added: "The evidence is there was an order that officers be deployed and contain the scene. This direct order seems to have been ignored.

"I really appreciate that under the circumstances and at that time the police had an enormously difficult job.

"But Mr Gaubert was alone in a bus depot.

"He is completely traumatised by this. He is living with it every day."

BS! He's looking for money. He has no REAL symptoms. "oh no, that could have been me" GIVE ME A BREAK.

 

[Astronuc]

when my kids and I were in an elevator that exploded.

The elevator exploded!? I can imagine the nightmares that followed. What the heck happened that the elevator exploded? Gas? Elevators are largerly inert, except for electrical wiring.

 

[Mk]

my kids and I were in an elevator that exploded.

Just another touch of weird and unexpected and you've got a plot line for Stephen King.

 

[Evo]

There was an explosion that to this day has not been explained to me. I do know that the mechanism that controlled the cable exploded, or something to that effect.

When we entered the elevator, I pressed the button for the ground floor (we were on the second floor). The door started to shut, then started to re-open, then started to shut, over and over, then suddenly the doors shut, there was a loud explosion and the elevator started plunging toward the basement and was suddenly caught by a failsafe mechanism which stopped the fall with such a bang that the ceiling collapsed on us and the elevator was swinging by the remaining cable attched. We were between floors. We were cut by flying glass that shattered the flourescent bulbs in the ceiling that was now on the floor around us. My watch had been broken when a metal beam that had hit it. It's a long, scary story.

 

[hypatia]

Evo, I am so sorry to hear what you and your girls experienced. I often go for the stairs myself, after being stuck in a elevator for several hours a few years ago.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, can and often does manifest itself in many different ways. Its not true that you half to be incapacitated by what has happened to you.
Some people with the disorder have much milder symptoms then you described. They are able to function, but may startle easily, feel disconnected and withdrawn from friends and family.
He may have a mild form of it, only his Doctors would know for sure.

 

[Astronuc]

I got stuck in an elevator after it lost power somehow. I was with a girl, and she started having a panic attack! I tried to calm her down, but she said she was afraid of being in the dark or dark enclosed spaces.

Well I didn't wait for her to get worked up, so I pried open the doors and found the mechanism that released the outer doors so we could get out. That elevator had broken down before, and we were instructed to wait rather than prying open the doors which then required some repair effort to fix.

I didn't particularly want to be stuck with a screaming person in an elevator.


Certainly not as horrifying as an exploding elevator!


I don't think one can minimize Gaubert's situation. Some people have a delayed onset to PTSD, and it's manifest in different ways. We may not know all the details.

 

[Evo]

I think what happened to Gaubert was wrong, and that people in that position could be so dense is mind bogling. But for a doctor to diagnose him with PTSD because in hindsight he is worried about an event that did not happen to him is what I find hard to swallow.

hypatia you're right. I think that PTSD is becoming a blanket diagnosis handed out for any feelings that arise from any perceived bad event. Years ago PTSD wasn't as generic.

From NIMH

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. Traumatic events that may trigger PTSD include violent personal assaults, natural or human-caused disasters, accidents, or military combat.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml

If he is this affected by being tazered, I think he may have other problems. Or maybe he wants money.

 

[mgb_phys]

Mr Gaubert said he was told the police believed he looked "Egyptian".

But this was in Leeds/Bradford with a 25% Pakistani/Bangladeshi population.
In all probablyilty he was the only person on the bus who was 'white' and they tasered him because he looked egyptian?

He should have been wearing his
"Don't shoot I'm not brazillian" T-shirt, http://www.cafepress.com/buy/%22not+brazilian%22/-/pd_26937845?CMP=KNC-F-ALL
Required on British public transport.

Ironically I just moved from there to Vancouver - I'm beginning to worry they are after me!

 

[Astronuc]

I think that PTSD is becoming a blanket diagnosis handed out for any feelings that arise from any perceived bad event. Years ago PTSD wasn't as generic.

I certainly agree with that! It seems the same thing with ADD/ADHD/ASD . . . .

I don't know the situation with Gaubert, so I refrain from judgement, and hope those directly involved show good sense and judgement.


When I was in university, I was in a car (an early Honda Civic) that got rear-ended by a much heavier mid-sized car, while we were stopped in traffic at a red light. The rear passenger seat ended up between the head rests of the front seat and the roof! The rear end of our car lifted off the ground as it was propelled into the car in front of us. Our cars front end just tapped the corner of the car in front, which had started to move after the light had turned green.

My friend (driving) and I were wearing seatbelts (good thing we were), and I was able to get my left hand up to brace myself against the dashboard, while my right arm got clipped by the door frame (I had my arm resting on the door frame with the window down).

My friend and I were shaken up but were able to get out of the car. The poor guy who hit us was apologizing profusely, even to the point of saying, "If you want to hit me go ahead, I deserve it". My right arm was swollen and in pain, and all I wanted to do was go have it X-rayed, so the guy drove us (his car wasn't damaged very much!) to a hospital. My triceps was injured - bruised and swollen, but the injury was not severe, and my arm was not broken. We thanked the guy and he took us to my friends, I went home.

Months later, we received a summons to appear in court. We had left the accident scene, which was a no-no - despite the fact that I was injured.

Anyway, the guy who hit us and his lawyer were there, as was the driver whose car out car hit. The lawyer explained the situation to us - that the court needed to resolve some things. We stated that the driver who hit us had been responsible (except for rear-ending us) and had taken care of us, so were satisfied. We signed some document to that effect and got ready to leave.

Meanwhile, the guy whose care we hit indicated he was traumatized! He said when he looked up and saw our car flying at his, he lost moments of his life, and he wanted compensation. He was threatening to sue! My friend and I looked at each other, and the lawyer and the driver . We bid them 'good luck with this guy', and left.