A 23-year-old labourer who drowned in the Thames after leaping off a bridge in attempt to escape arrest had argued with his girlfriend shortly before his death.
Liam Allan was on a night out in Kingston, south-west London, with his girlfriend, Caitlin, and teen brother on Friday. He went into the water by Bill’s restaurant on Riverside Walk just after 10.30pm.
He and Caitlin got into argument over his missing keys and phone. The dispute began to escalate, prompting police to get involved.
Caitlin was being interviewed by the police about 100 metres away from Kingston Bridge when she heard a ‘big splash’ that she knew was Mr Allan.
She reportedly ran to the corner of Kingston Bridge where she saw him swimming away from police – she tried to jump in after him but police held her back.
Mr Allan’s body was pulled from the water two hours later and he was declared dead after an attempt at CPR.
Now, following his death, the 23-year-old’s father has slammed officers for not jumping into the ‘waist deep water’ to save him, alleging all police did was stand by and watch.
The grieving father also claimed police told some family members Mr Allan had died while offering others ‘false hope’ by saying that they didn’t know if he was alive.
The family are waiting for the results of the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) investigation, but fear evidence will go missing during the probe.
Liam Allan, the 23-year-old labourer who drowned in the Thames after leaping off a bridge in attempt to escape arrest, had argued with his girlfriend shortly before his death
Liam Allan went into the water by Bill’s restaurant on Riverside Walk in Kingston, south-west London, at just after 10.30pm on Friday. Investigators are pictured at the scene
Ethan Adami-Clack, 17, met up with his half-brother, Mr Allan, and Caitlin for drinks on Friday night.
Knowing the pair had a tempestuous relationship, Ethan had stopped drinking early on in the night while Mr Allan and Caitlin got increasingly intoxicated.
The teen left 30 minutes before Mr Allan’s tragic death on Kingston Bridge, as an argument between he and Caitlin began to escalate.
‘It wasn’t anything serious,’ Mr Adami-Clack recalled. ‘Caitlin just had Liam’s keys and phone, but the two were very drunk.’
Police were interviewing Caitlin outside a TK Maxx store about 100 metres away from the bridge when Mr Allan leapt into the river.
‘I’ve been talking to his girlfriend and she said when he jumped in the police officers basically just panicked and didn’t know what to do,’ the teen said, claiming Caitlin tried to jump after her boyfriend, but was held back by police.
He said officers lost sight of Mr Allan after he reached the second arch of Kingston Bridge, the first arch is lit but the second isn’t. Police did not use the red life ring beside the river, it was claimed.
‘We’re waiting to get the bodycam footage,’ said Mr Adami-Clack. ‘Until then I’m just more or less trying to piece together the story.’
He added: ‘I just want people to know, he jumped in thinking he would get to the other side.’
Mr Allan’s girlfriend, Caitlin, was being interviewed by the police about 100 metres away from Kingston Bridge when she heard a ‘big splash’ that she knew was her boyfriend. She reportedly ran to the corner of Kingston Bridge where she saw him swimming away from police – she tried to jump in after him but police held her back
Mr Allan’s body was pulled from the water two hours later and he was declared dead after an attempt at CPR
Since his death, Mr Allan’s father, James ‘Jamie’ Allan, has argued officers should have jumped in as the water was only waist deep.
Jamie claims he returned to the scene after the tragedy and walked out to the middle of the river to test how deep the water was. He said it only came up to his waist when he first got in and didn’t reach his neck until the middle, as he questioned why officers didn’t jump in.
He also claimed that when Caitlin got in the water to help him, officers dragged her out, contradicting reports that police prevented her ever getting in.
He said the officer just stood and watched, telling Caitlin he would be fine because they could see him.
‘Liam was out with his brother and his girlfriend in Kingston having a few drinks, at some point him and his girlfriend got into an argument on the top of the bridge,’ Jamie said, recounting what he knew of the night.
‘Police were flagged down, one of the police was talking to his girlfriend, one took him to speak to him, and took him down the steps towards the riverside.
‘As they were talking to him, Liam got closer and closer to the river bank.
‘As it come through on the radio that Liam was to be arrested, I heard Liam ended up in the river. I don’t know how yet, but he ended up in the river as they went to arrest him. And the policemen didn’t do anything, they basically watched him.
‘I actually went into the river the other night, where he jumped in. I got in myself, and it come up to my waist. It’s not deep, the policeman could’ve gone straight after and got him and might have got a wet bottom.
‘I went out quite far before I got a wet neck.
‘Another thing I found out, his girlfriend jumped into get him and they got him and got her out, but they didn’t get him out.
‘They said to her ‘don’t worry, we can see him he’ll be alright.’ I just want to know what’s happened.’
Now, following his death, the 23-year-old’s father has slammed officers for not jumping into the ‘waist deep water’ to save him, alleging all police did was stand by and watch
Mr Allan’s grieving father claimed police told some family members Liam had died while offering others ‘false hope’ by saying that they didn’t know if he was alive
Jamie also claimed authorities told some family members he had died and some that they didn’t know if he was alive.
He said: ‘Police came around the night it happened, they told us they didn’t even know if he was alive.
‘But they were just giving us false hope because they had already told his mother that he was dead.
‘They said Liam was calm the whole way through, didn’t raise his voice at all he was calm. But they didn’t give us a clear depiction of what happened, they just said he slid down into the water.
‘Why did the police even take him down to the river bank?’
‘It was an alleged theft, but his girlfriend was always ringing the police over him for something, and it wasn’t a theft. They was out together, what would he have taken?’
Mr Allan’s family told MyLondon he had been drinking but they believed he was ‘calm’ while talking to police.
Body-worn camera footage is under review and police say he had not been handcuffed.
His father, Jamie, said: ‘I am broken. He was just so bubbly. He would talk to anyone. He would do anything for anyone.
‘He was a good kid. He was trying so hard… He had big dreams [of doing music] and from what I have been told he was quite good as well.’
Jamie also said he fears evidence will go missing during the investigation.
‘I’m devastated to be honest, I don’t know what to do anymore. What’s doing me in is not knowing as well,’ he shared. ‘I’ve got a feeling in the back, that this bodycam footage is going to be part deleted or redacted or something.’
Mr Allan, who did agency work in construction but wanted to be a rapper, left behind his brother, Tyler, 14, sister Jessica, 5, and a brother and two sisters on his mother’s side.
Mr Allan as a youngster with his father, James, and step-mother, Leanne
Tributes were also left for Mr Allan by the scene in Kingston. Speaking at the memorial scene, Mr Adami-Clack commented on his brother’s six-month relationship with Caitlin.
‘He and her were really very rocky, they loved each other to pieces but they weren’t good for each other,’ the teen shared.
‘He moved around a lot, he lived in Tolworth, then in Feltham, then he lived in Staines, then recently he’d been staying in Ashford for about a year.
‘I was speaking to his neighbours about what he was like before, and they said when he moved in a year ago he was such a lovely person, he was a different character.
‘He met his girlfriend six months or so ago and ever since then it’s just been the craziest place.
‘The house was damaged, they had an argument before and the police had come and kicked the door down.
‘He had a plank of wood over the door, and a padlock to lock it. You can’t live like that.
‘They destroyed about eight TVs, and they damaged a lot of phones as well, he had to use a brick phone because they’d get broken.
‘He had no criminal history before her, I might add.
‘I’m not putting all the blame on her because he was just as bad, he manipulated her a few times, he had that side of him. But people who knew him, he was a really good guy.
‘He was being evicted because of their arguments, but he never hit her or anything like that.
‘Liam had a rough life growing up, he kept running away from home. He had to go into care because he kept running away, but we got him out.’
Mr Adami-Clack remembered finding out about his brother’s death in the middle of the night.
‘I woke up at 1am on Saturday morning, my mum got the news first. She opened the door to the police and she woke me up screaming and crying, I didn’t believe her.
‘I was confused, at the time they didn’t give us enough information on what happened. It took hours to get more information.’
He added: ‘He was the most caring and loving person, everyone who met him had a smile on their face.’
Tributes were also left for Mr Allan by the scene in Kingston
Speaking at the memorial scene, Mr Allan’s commented on his six-month relationship with Caitlin: ‘He and her were really very rocky, they loved each other to pieces but they weren’t good for each other’
The IOPC said it has begun the process of gathering and reviewing evidence, including footage of the interaction between the officers and Mr Allan.
It is already investigating the death of another man, Oladeji Adeyemi Omishore, 41, who jumped from Chelsea Bridge on June 4 after being Tasered three times by police officers.
The full Met Police statement reads: ‘At around 22:30hrs on Friday, 26 August, police on routine patrol were flagged down on Kingston Bridge to a verbal altercation involving a man and a woman who were known to each other.
‘An allegation of theft was made. Officers were in the process of arresting the man, believed to be aged in his 20s, when he entered the water. He had not been placed in handcuffs.
‘A multi-agency response to locate the man was launched, involving the Met’s Marine Policing Unit, National Police Air Service, London Fire Brigade and the RNLI.
‘The man was recovered from the water at around 00:30hrs and treated by paramedics. Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead. The man’s family have been informed.
‘Police cordons remains in place and enquiries are ongoing. The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards have made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.’
The IOPC said it has begun the process of gathering and reviewing evidence, including footage of the interaction between the officers and Mr Allan
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: ‘My thoughts, and those of the Metropolitan Police Service, are with the friends and family of the man who has sadly lost his life following this incident.
‘I fully appreciate the public will be very concerned. We of course share that concern. The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards made an immediate referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct as is protocol in any incident in which a person comes to harm following police contact.
‘We will fully support the IOPC’s investigation.’
A statement from the IOPC said: ‘IOPC investigators attended the police post-incident procedures to obtain initial accounts from the officers involved.
‘We have now begun the process of gathering and reviewing evidence, including footage of the interaction between officers and the man.
‘Our thoughts are with the man’s loved ones and all those affected by his death.’
It comes after a 41-year-old man died in hospital earlier this year after jumping from a bridge into the River Thames when he was Tasered three times by police officers.
Oladeji Adeyemi Omishore, 41, from Pimlico was involved in a confrontation with Met Police officers on Chelsea Bridge on June 4.
Oladeji Adeyemi Omishore, 41, jumped from Chelsea Bridge on June 4 after being Tasered three times by police officers
A shocking video showed the man, who appears to be holding an object in his right hand – reportedly a plastic and metal firelighter – shouting at two police officers.
One of the officers fires a Taser and the man falls to the floor, but proceeds to try and get up, at which point he is shocked a second time.
The 41-year-old, who had a history of mental health issues, was recovered from the River Thames but died the following day in hospital
He continues to try and get up and is shocked a third time, while officers shout at him to stay on the floor.
The man then leaps over one of the barriers towards the edge of the bridge, pursued by a police officer, before vaulting over the railings and into the River Thames below.
After falling from the bridge a rescue operation was launched and he was rescued from the water by the RNLI.
He died in hospital the following day.
The Met referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) who have now launched an investigation.
Mr Omishore’s family said it is ‘incomprehensible’ that the officers involved were not being investigated for any professional misconduct or criminal charges, arguing that the Taser use ‘amounted to excessive use of force’.
An IOPC spokesperson said: ‘Our thoughts and sympathies remain with the family and friends of Oladeji Omishore.
‘Our investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death is progressing well and our investigators are continuing to gather and analyse key evidence.
‘At this early stage, we have no indication that any of the officers involved may have breached police professional standards or committed a criminal offence, although we keep conduct matters constantly under review.
‘We continue to liaise with Mr Omishore’s family to update them on our progress.’