TWO police officers who failed to adequately help a prisoner who lay dying in front of them face a disciplinary hearing later this week.

PC Richard Clark and Special Constable Jeanette Horlock are due to face a Durham Constabulary disciplinary panel on Thursday following stinging criticisms of their conduct by a police watchdog and a coroner.

Father-of-two Lenny McCourt, 44, described as “well built” and 6ft 3ins tall, died of apparent heart failure after being sprayed with pepper and arrested by police outside his home in Ash Crescent, Seaham, County Durham, on the afternoon of September 11, 2010.

He died in police custody after being driven in a cramped cage in the back of a van to Peterlee police station, eight miles away. Following an inquest into his death, which finished last November, the Independent Police Complaints Commission published its report.

IPCC commissioner Nicholas Long said that while Mr McCourt’s arrest and restraint with pepper spray had been justified, what followed was “wholly inadequate”.

Investigators found that four Durham Constabulary officers, PC Terry Hill, PC Richard Clark, Special Constable Jeanette Horlock, and Sgt Jack Clark, could have cases to answer.

But only PC Clark and Special Constable Horlock face a hearing into allegations of gross misconduct by the panel, led by Deputy Chief Constable Michael Banks. The hearing, which is due to begin on Thursday, is expected to last two days.

PC Terry Hill has already been disciplined internally, while The Journal understands custody sergeant Jack Clark has retired and will not face a disciplinary hearing after discussions between police and Mr McCourt’s family.

The IPCC criticised officers for their failure to give adequate first aid after Mr McCourt collapsed.

No basic checks were undertaken for over a minute, Mr McCourt was then laid on the floor and CPR was not attempted for around nine minutes and, when it was, it was not done in accordance with training.

As a result of the findings, the IPCC concluded that the police constable and special constable who failed to monitor Mr McCourt during the journey to Peterlee Police Station and then failed to provide adequate first aid have a case to answer for gross misconduct.

Mr Long said: “The arrest and use of incapacitant spray appears to have been fully justified. However, after that there was a catalogue of failures in the care afforded to Mr McCourt.

“Police officers are trained to deliver first aid, yet when Mr McCourt was found collapsed in the van the first reaction was not to begin CPR.

“Instead, the officers did nothing to help him. They laid him on the floor. Attempts at resuscitation did not start for almost nine minutes after Mr McCourt had been discovered collapsed – and even then the resuscitation attempts were poor. The officers’ reaction was wholly inadequate.”

At the inquest, Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle, after viewing video footage, said he found it “distressing to see police officers standing around with their hands on their hips while a prisoner lay either dead or dying in front of them”.

Tracey McCourt said yesterday: “These officers clearly did not do what they were supposed to have been trained to do and we as a family hope they will be appropriately disciplined.

“We are not against the police, I thanked the custody sergeant for his honesty at the inquest, but their failure to help Lenny was reprehensible.”