‘Alcoholism, not tasers, killed Pole in Canada’

From: polskieradio.pl
The death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver airport was not caused by a taser gun but alcoholism, claims Taser International, the company which produced the ‘lethal weapon’.

The claim comes during the court case into the death of Dziekanski in 2007, when he was hit by a taser gun while being restrained by Vancover police.

David Neave, the taser company’s lawyer, said that there is no evidence that Dziekanski died as a result of using a taser gun. Neave added that the Pole’s autopsy revealed he was an alcoholic and suggested he suffered from cardiac arrhythmia, which caused his death.

Rober Dziekanski died in October 2007 at the Vancouver International Airport. Policemen fired a taser gun at him five times in an attempt to contain him when he became aggressive.

A court in Canada is investigating the death and the use of taser guns to see if the police overstepped their power of detention and containment.

To the outrage of Polish authorities, all four Canadian policemen involved in the case were absolved.

The widespread criticism following the death of Dziekanski has led Canadian authorities to introduce new regulations on the use of taser guns. Now tasers can only be used if a person is combative or poses a risk of death of grievous bodily harm to an officer.