Prosecutors charge six Oulu guards over two deaths in custody

Six guards at Oulu’s police detention facility have been charged with breach of official duty after two people died in custody in the summer of 2023. Yle reports that the trial began at Oulu District Court on Wednesday.

The deaths occurred less than two weeks apart. In the first case, a person detained because of intoxication was taken to the facility at about 3am. The cell had a surveillance camera, and a guard checked on the person once early in the morning. Several hours later, a guard looked through the cell door and said the person was sleeping.

The person was found dead shortly after 1.30pm, when police went to wake them. A lawyer representing the person’s relatives said the death had occurred about two and a half hours earlier and was caused by respiratory depression resulting from poisoning.

The prosecution says the guards did not monitor the detainees adequately. Under the police station’s rules, intoxicated detainees should have been checked hourly, or more often if necessary. In the second case, the prosecution says, a detainee was held for several hours and checked at the cell door only once.

All six defendants deny the charges. They say camera surveillance was the facility’s established practice and a more effective way to monitor detainees than checking through the cell-door hatch. They also argue that hourly checks would not have changed the outcome and that the facility was understaffed.

One defendant, a direct supervisor who was not working when the deaths occurred, is also charged. The prosecution says the supervisor was responsible for the proper operation of the detention facility. The supervisor denies that camera surveillance alone was considered sufficient.