A coroner has criticised a police force after "serious deficiencies" in procedures were exposed by an inquest into the death of a former cage fighter who died in custody after he was pepper-sprayed by officers.
Jacob Michael, 25, died by misadventure as a result of "cocaine induced excited delirium", an inquest jury found.
But the jury also found that a catalogue of police failures may have contributed to his death.
Speaking after the inquest, Mr Michael's mother, Christine Michael, said she was "disappointed" by the verdict and said she still held the police responsible.
Cheshire Police said lessons had been learned and that a range of improvements had already been put into action.
The inquest was told that Mr Michael called police on August 22 last year after he believed somebody had pulled a gun on him. He then locked himself in his bedroom in Lacey Street, Widnes, and was restrained by police officers after a struggle.
Police officers said Mr Michael threatened them with a hammer, which led them to incapacitate him with pepper spray.
The jury of eight women and one man at Warrington Coroner's Court, sitting at Daresbury Park Hotel, reached its verdict after more than two days of deliberations. Reading their narrative verdict, Nicholas Rheinberg, the Coroner for Cheshire, said: "Partying and his heart's susceptibility to cocaine probably contributed to the death."
The "fear, flight and fight" response caused during the arrest "may have also contributed to the death", the jury found.
The jury also ruled that "ineffective" police training, procedural failures, failures to carry out a "timely assessment" and a lack of communication may have also contributed to the death.
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