A GRANDFATHER died of heart failure minutes after police used pepper spray while arresting him, an inquest into his death was told today (October 17).

Although Lenny McCourt had a pre-existing heart condition, he would not have died when he did - but for the stress brought about by the “sequence of events” during his arrest, according to an expert witness.

Forensic pathologist Dr Stuart Hamilton told a jury, though pepper spray was one factor, he did not think its use was “an immediate and direct cause” of the 44-year-old’s death.

Mr McCourt was certified dead at Peterlee Police Station in East Durham, after being arrested in nearby Seaham on September 11, 2010, an inquest in Crook has been told.

Police were called after he was reported drunkenly shouting in the street and kicking the door of a neighbour’s house in Ash Crescent, Seaham.

Dr Hamilton said a post mortem examination revealed Mr McCourt had an abnormally enlarged heart with narrowing of one its three arteries.

Toxicological tests established he had 255mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood – more than three times the legal driving limit.

Dr Hamilton said: “I am of the opinion that the reason Mr McCourt died was because he had a degree of heart disease - but that has been precipitated by sequence of events that has occurred leading up to the point at which his heart failed.”

He added, it was a case of “multiple factors all conspiring together” and it was impossible to tease out how much a role each factor played in the cause of Mr McCourt’s death.

Dealing with the effects of pepper spray, Dr Hamilton said: “It would be an unpleasant experience and would contribute to that flight or fight reaction and more than likely to get the heart going and the blood pressure up.

“So indirectly, the fact that spray was deployed could have contributed to Mr McCourt’s general physical state – but I do not think it is a direct and immediate cause of death.”

Dr Hamilton said Mr McCourt had abrasions on his arms consistent with him having been handcuffed, as well as bruises to the scalp consistent with descriptions of him bumping his head on the police van and a gatepost.

The hearing continues.