Age: 48
Sex: male
Date: 10 Sep 2017
Place: Elgin Street, Halliwell, Bolton, Manchester
David Molloy died following a medical episode whilst in police custody after he was arrested following reports of a fight at a man's house on Sunday 10 September 2017. The exact cause of his death was unclear.
It was said that David Molloy had earlier been drinking with friends and taking cocaine at a property in Elgin Street, Halliwell and had later started smashing up the friend's house resulting in a fight and his friend trying to restrain him. Following the fight the police were called and David Molloy was arrested and put in the back of a police van and whilst they were on the way to the police station he had a medical episode as it travelled along St Peter's Way.
Following the medical episode the police stopped the van and tried to revive him at the side of the road after which he was taken to the hospital where he died shortly before 3am.
A 34-year-old man that had lived at the house in Elgin Street was then arrested on suspicion of his murder but later released under investigation whilst another 49-year-old man that had been at the property was arrested on suspicion of breaching the peace.
It was said that during the fight that his friend had restrained David Molloy in a neck hold before calling the police at 1.42am. David Molloy was pronounced dead just before 3am.
During the murder investigation the house was searched and two crime scene investigation vans were seen outside along with a police car.
The property was said to have been rented.
It was said that David Molloy had started to take harder drugs after he found out that he wasn't the father of his ex-partner's baby. It was said that during the drinking session that he had become paranoid and had started smashing things up and a fight broke out after which the police were called.
The inquest heard that there were a number of factors that contributed to his death and that it was not possible to pinpoint one of them as being the direct cause.
It was said that there were four factors, including:
When the pathologist was asked what the tipping point for David Molloy's death was he said, 'One can never be certain whether his death was preventable, and I can’t say one particular factor played more of a role than another. Mr Molloy had significant injuries consistent with a fight, and someone applying significant pressure to his neck, but they were insufficient to have directly caused his death'.
David Molloy had been a JCB driver.
