The father of a man who died in police custody has called for a “robust” investigation into the officers involved.

Duncan Tomlin, 32, of Burgess Hill died three days after he was found unconscious in the back of a police van in July. The IPCC has launched an investigation into whether a Sussex Police Sergeant and four constables used excessive force in arresting Mr Tomlin.

His father Paul told The Argus: “The family are devastated by Duncan’s death. We need to know how this came about. We expect the IPCC to carry out a thorough, robust and well-resourced investigation in a timely manner in order to establish this.

"To this end we welcome the fact that gross misconduct notices have been served on five officers involved in the case as we hope this reflects the gravity with which the IPCC are treating this investigation.”

Sussex Police have refused to say whether the officers are still on active duty.