AN INVESTIGATION into the death of a man who died in police custody has been suspended whilst prosecutors decide whether to charge five Sussex Police officers.

Epileptic Duncan Tomlin, 32, was thought to be having a seizure when he was restrained by Sussex Police officers in July 2014. He stopped breathing in a police van in Haywards Heath and and later died in hospital.

On what would have been his birthday yesterday West Sussex coroner Penelope Schofield said she had been asked by the Crown Prosecution Service to suspend her investigation into his death while a decision was made on whether the police sergeant and four constables should face criminal charges over his death.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has concluded an investigation into Duncan’s death and asked prosecutors to charge the officers involved with potential criminal offences.

As part of its own investigation, the IPCC said it had found a case to answer for gross misconduct against the five officers.

Duncan’s family said at the time of his death police had been called by a neighbour who mistook Duncan suffering an epileptic seizure for a domestic disturbance.

He is believed to have been tasered and pepper sprayed before being put in a police van where he fell unconscious.

He was given CPR and an ambulance was called but he died on July 26, 2014, after spending two days in a coma in hospital.

His family has repeatedly called for the officers to be suspended from active duty, but yesterday the force confirmed they were still serving.

Duncan’s father Paul Tomlin previously said it “sends the wrong message about how seriously the police take these matters”.