The 26-year-old was found ‘slumped on a wall’
A young father who died after being handcuffed by police officers in a back garden in St Helens suffered a heart attack, a court has heard.
Liam Brackley was found “slumped on a wall” on September 30 last year, after Merseyside Police had been called to the scene following reports of trespassing.
A pre-inquest review at Sefton Coroner’s Court today (December 8) heard how the 26-year-old was handcuffed and in a “prone” (face-down) position when he suffered cardiac arrest.
The court heard how Merseyside Police were called to Parr, St Helens, on the afternoon of September 30 following a 999 call which reported Liam was “under the influence of drugs”.
The coroner David Lewis said: “The family’s position, as I understand, is that the police should have known he was displaying what might be described as ABD (Acute Behavioural Disturbance). He was trying to get into people’s properties and he was carrying a golf club.”
Acute Behavioural Disturbance is an umbrella term describing various medical emergencies causing someone to behave in a manner that may put themselves or others at risk. A post-mortem report found Liam had taken cocaine before his death.
Zoe McCallum, representing Liam’s family, said: “The question is…was he suffering from cocaine toxicity (overdose) as opposed to cocaine intoxication at the time of his death? Because the post-mortem report isn’t conclusive as to that. It’s only conclusive that he had taken cocaine.”
She continued: “What we do know is that cocaine has an effect on the heart. It increases heartbeat. Then we have the symptoms that could be symptoms of cocaine toxicity.
“If there’s somebody already suffering cocaine intoxication, what they may be vulnerable to is heart attack.”
She added that Liam had carried out “a period of intense physical activity” shortly before police arrived, which would have caused his elevated heart rate to further increase.
The investigating pathologist did not believe the restraint by police had significantly contributed to Liam’s death. However, Ms McCallum said: “We start from a position where we don’t know the level of cocaine in the blood, so we don’t know whether or not he would have had that heart attack whether or not officers had put their hands on him.”
She added: “It may be what tipped him into cardiac arrest was the fright of the baton, or it may be that he didn’t have enough time to breathe.”
She called on the coroner to request independent expert evidence from a cardiologist and a critical care doctor. She also requested police logbooks and reports of the incident, evidence of police officer training, Ring doorbell footage of Liam leaving his mum’s home three hours before the incident, video footage of Liam handcuffed in the garden, and an Independent Office for Police Conduct report.
Liam left behind his six-year-old twin daughters. Speaking to the ECHO last year, a member of Liam’s family described him as “the most caring, protective brother,” whose family “meant everything to him”.
“He was always the life and soul of the room and would cheer everyone up wherever he was,” they added. “You could never be sad around Liam. Losing him has absolutely broken us.
“My mum is no longer the same mum we knew. Our dad is torn. He lived with them and the house is quiet now.”
The coroner arranged another pre-inquest review to take place on February 18, 2026.
