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A Man with a Stroke Ends Up at a Sobering Station. “It Is an Unfortunate Coincidence,” Says the Court

According to the court, it was unjustified and illegal to arrest and place a man who had suffered a severe stroke in a sobering station without a proper medical examination. However, the court also noted that it was difficult to charge the City Guard officers with any violation or neglect in connection with transporting the man to the station.

While on his way home after work, Mr. P. suffered a major stroke. Police officers who intervened concluded that the man was under the influence of alcohol and called the City Guard to transport him to the sobering station. During the intervention, the man was not tested with a breathalyzer because neither the Police nor the City Guard had one at their disposal at the time. As a result, the man was admitted to the sobering station which conducted a medical examination and called the ambulance four hours after Mr. P.’s admittance. “While considering the appeal against Mr. P.’s arrest and admittance to the facility, the court stated that the man’s placement in a sobering station was unjustified, misguided, mistaken and carried at least a potential risk to his health and life,” says Irmina Pacho, a lawyer at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR). The court also pointed to the insufficient supervision over the man’s stay in the station. The court concluded that both the officers of the Police and the City Guard exercised due diligence. It further noticed that it was impossible to lay the blame on the officers for not noticing that Mr. P. was in need of immediate medical care and that it was necessary to transport him to the hospital instead of a sobering station. „In its case-law, the European Court of Human Rights has multiple times noted that a state has a duty to protect arrested persons and persons deprived of liberty. This duty covers, among others, protection of health and provision of proper healthcare,” explains advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak who, at the request of HFHR, served as Mr. P.’s pro bono lawyer. „An enhanced standard of protection should also apply to law enforcement officers in situations when they assess the health of persons transported to sobering stations,” advocate Mikołaj Pietrzak adds. “In HFHR’s view, it is necessary to introduce proper procedures and provide adequate training in order to eliminate the risk of law enforcement officers’ making wrong decisions in the future, which could endanger somebody’s life or health,” Irmina Pacho adds. “Correct assessment of the man’s health and provision of medical care in the key moment just after the stroke could have limited the extent of internal damage.”