A police officer has described how he grappled with a mentally ill man who later died after being restrained.

PC Nicholas Reeves was called with colleagues to Colin Holt’s flat in Twydall after he fled from a psychiatric ward at Medway hospital.

At an inquest this week, more than four years after the tragedy, PC Reeves said at first Mr Holt seemed relaxed but began to get agitated and grabbed him.

He felt Mr Holt on top of him and struggled to get him off before handcuffing the father of two.

Two other PCs, Maurice Leigh and Neil Bowdery, have been cleared of misconduct in public office following a court hearing in 2013.

PC Reeves also admitted using a method of restraint that he only had basic training in.

Schizophrenic Mr Holt died after being held by police at his home in Goudhurst Road.

He died from positional asphyxia, which occurs when a person’s position prevents them from breathing while being detained – despite attempts to resuscitate him.

An inquest into his death began this week, more than four years after he died. It heard that PC Nicholas Reeves and PC Maurice Leigh were tasked to find Mr Holt after he went missing.

They went to his home and found the door open with a man in an armchair in the living room. Mr Holt initially denied it was him, saying “that’s not me, I’m Alfred Marx”.

PC Reeves said the officers faced a “dilemma” because they did not know whether the property had been burgled and was therefore a scene of crime.

On his way to the flat, the officer said he tried to glean more information about Mr Holt from his control office and through the hospital. He said: “All we were told was told to locate Mr Holt and assumed we would take him back to the hospital, if required.

“But I was a bit wary as we did not know anything about him, just that he had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act.”

He said the property was “very chaotic” and messy. Mr Holt was becoming “visibly angrier”.

"He was physically shaking, his hands were shaking and he started gesticulating his finger at PC Leigh. He started swearing at us both and making random remarks..." - PC Reeves

The PCs asked for proof of identity and he went into the kitchen, returning with his passport in the name of Colin Holt. PC Reeves said: “He then appeared to be completely relaxed and I thought perhaps he’s not all there and he was playing a joke with us.”

When they said they would be taking him back to hospital, he got more agitated, shouting sentences that did not make sense.

He said: “He was physically shaking, his hands were shaking and he started gesticulating his finger at PC Leigh.

“He started swearing at us both and making random remarks about martial arts.” He said they tried to calm him down but, thinking he was about to hit his colleague, PC Reeves said he gently put Mr Holt’s hand down.

Mr Holt then grabbed hold of his arms and he found himself pushed against a fish tank and pulled across the room. He then felt Mr Holt on top of him and struggled to get him off.

Eventually he freed himself and handcuffed Mr Holt with his arms behind his back in a kneeling position against a chair.

PC Reeves had momentarily lost sight of PC Leigh, saying he had no idea where he was and could not hear him. He looked around to see the fish tank smashed and blood on the chair.

Mr Holt was still shouting and moving his shoulders and the bottom part of his legs.

When PC Neil Bowdery arrived, PC Reeves asked him to take over from PC Leigh while PC David Brett noticed he was bleeding and advised him to go to hospital. It was while he being driven in a patrol car that he heard on the police radio that Mr Holt was being given CPR.

Coroner Allison Summers questioned PC Reeves about his knowledge of positional asphyxia. He replied: “I’m aware of it. I would always consider it when restraining somebody. Just told there could be risk.”

He had been aware of it at his initial training, which the coroner described as at a basic level.

He denied that he or PC Leigh had pushed or pressed Mr Holt against the seat of the chair.

PC Leigh and PC Bowdery were charged with misconduct in public office following the incident and were cleared at a trial at Maidstone Crown Court in 2013.

The inquest is being held before a jury at the Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone and is expected to last up to five weeks.