WARNINGS were not placed on the police national computer that cocaine had been found during a strip-search of a Newport man less than four months before he died in police custody, an inquest heard.

Andrew David Sheppard, 22, was found unconscious in his cell at Newport Central police station early on October 1, 2006, and later pronounced dead.

Mr Sheppard had been detained by police under the Mental Health Act just before 10pm the previous night, during which civilian police worker Matthew Davies was acting as a custody detention officer.

Giving evidence at the inquest at Gwent Coroner’s Court into Mr Sheppard’s death, Mr Davies said he recognised Mr Sheppard on the night he was brought into custody. This was due to him being brought into the police station on June 11, 2006, after being arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of drugs.

Mr Davies said although he didn’t remember it, he accepted that at the time of this arrest in June he had carried out a strip-search on Mr Sheppard during which cocaine had been found in Mr Sheppard’s sock.

He said that although something like this should usually be put into the police national computer as a warning marker, it wasn’t.

Therefore when Mr Sheppard was detained on September 30, no warning was brought up when his name was entered into the computer and only a basic head-to-toe search was carried out. This was again performed by Mr Davies.

Mr Davies said: “I would suspect a marker to be put on the police national computer.

I don’t know whose responsibility it was but it should have been put on.”

Proceeding.