A man who was allegedly Tasered by police while suffering an epileptic fit at a gym has complained about the treatment he received.

The Daily Mail reports that the unnamed 40-year-old collapsed at the gym after suffering the epileptic fit. Paramedics were called to treat the man, but they requested police back-up after he allegedly began punching and biting them.

Police officers arrived at the Powerleague Gym – based at a secondary school at Whalley Range in Manchester – and one officer discharged a 50,000-volt Taser at least once into the patient. After being restrained by police officers, he was eventually taken to hospital one hour after suffering the epileptic fit. Because of the seriousness of his condition, he was kept in hospital for two weeks before being discharged.

The man lodged a complaint about his treatment with Greater Manchester Police, who referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

The IPCC has launched a full investigation into the incident, which took place in November 2009. The man is claiming police officers used excessive force to restrain him.

Last August, data showed Tasers have been used 4,818 times since they were first introduced in England and Wales in 2003 to deal with violent offenders.

In the 20 months to the end of August 2009, records show police fired – or threatened to fire – Tasers at under-18s on at least 142 occasions.

The youngest person involved is a 12-year-old who threatened a teacher with a pair of scissors; the eldest, an 89-year-old war veteran thought to be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Police used the Taser as they thought he might be a danger to himself.

The Daily Mail reports that police have also used Tasers on stray dogs, ‘runaway’ sheep – and even accidentally on themselves.

In 2006, 47-year-old Brian Loan from County Durham died several days after being shot with a Taser. A coroner recorded his death as due to heart disease – however, Mr Loan’s sister Barbara Hodgson has always refused to accept that the effects of the Taser had not contributed.

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