AN INVESTIGATION HAS been launched into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man in the UK who died after being shot with a Taser gun by police.
Philip Hulmes, 53, was hit with electric probes from the stun gun last night after police were called to his home on Salford Road, in Over Hulton, near Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Police had been called to the house by Hulmes’ daughter, who said that he had locked himself in the house and was armed with a knife, reports Manchester Evening News. Hulmes was reportedly making threats and had begun to stab himself.
When officers could not persuade him to leave the house, they used a Taser gun to stun him.
Hulmes was then taken to the Royal Botlon Hospital where he died about half an hour later, reports the Guardian.
A post-mortem examination is due to be carried out later today.
A spokesperson for the police said: “Police attended and the officers were threatened by the man. The officers then gained entry to the house and deployed a Taser. After it was deployed, it became apparent he had a serious self-inflicted stab wound to his abdomen.”
The spokesperson added that the coroner had been informed about the circumstances leading up to Hulmes’ death and that an investigation was underway.
Hulmes’ death is the third in eight days connected to police use of Tasers and pepper-spray in the UK.
Last week, 27-year old Dale Burns died after being tasered by police in Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria.
Another man died in police custody in Widnes, Cheshire, after being pepper-sprayed on Monday evening. It is understood that the spray was administered when 25-year-old Jacob Michael resisted arrest.
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