Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan's statement regarding the death of Mohamud Hassan

The death of Mohamud Hassan was a tragedy and we will continue to offer our deepest condolences to his family. There is nothing that we can say to ease their pain and we will support them in any way that we can.

I know that many people want to understand what led to his tragic death on Saturday 9^th January 2021, particularly the circumstances surrounding his arrest on the Friday before, his time at the police station and his subsequent release from custody.

We immediately referred the circumstances surrounding his death to the Independent Office for Police Conduct who have decided to independently investigate these circumstances.

We did this not because we thought that police officers had done anything wrong, but because it was the right thing to do, to give an independent view on the decisions that we made and the actions that we took.

It is right and proper that the powers that we exercise are subject of scrutiny and the IOPC will come to their own conclusions in this regard. I completely respect their independence and I completely understand people’s desire to understand what has happened.

As Chief Constable I am determined that we should pursue the evidence wherever it takes us.

I know people want to make their voices heard; the prevalence of racial discrimination and disadvantage across all parts of our society is such an important issue that voices should be heard. In ordinary times policing will do all it can to facilitate people lawfully exercising that right to be heard.

These are no ordinary times. A global health pandemic is affecting all of us and the virus is spreading leading to unimaginable pressures on the National Health Service and I would urge people to follow the regulations and guidelines to help protect the NHS and save lives.

I need my police officers to be working hard to protect the public, to respond to incidents of domestic violence and abuse, to respond to sexual violence, knife crime and all other forms of violence and hatred.

I need them to be available for all these things, to respond to people who call us in a crisis as they do hundreds of times every day. Please observe the regulations so that we can help keep everybody safe.

The death of Mohamud Hassan was a tragedy and we will do everything that we can to support his family. We will work with the IOPC and provide them with everything that they require, and we will work tirelessly to continue to keep the communities of South Wales safe.