AN inquest jury has listened to differing stories about how doctors, police and an ambulance crew dealt with a mentally ill man they were trying to get to hospital.

They were trying to persuade Andrew Jordan, aged 28, of Sycamore Mews, St John's Road, Erith, to leave his home and go into a mental health unit at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, on October 7 2003.

But when a team, including two doctors, from Oxleas NHS Trust turned up at Mr Jordan's home to assess him because they feared he had stopped taking his medication, he refused to let them in.

Eventually they asked two police officers, on the scene as a precaution, to persuade him to open his front door.

The officers say they eventually forced their way in when Mr Jordan partially opened the door, because they feared for his safety after hearing him shouting "You will see blood. Do you want blood?"

Despite having no history of violence against people, Mr Jordan, who suffered from schizophrenia and diabetes, grabbed one of the police officers, PC Terry Fearn around the neck. The officers called for reinforcements and four police cars and a police van with a total of 11 other officers, many of them still probationers, turned up at Sycamore Mews and went into Mr Jordan's house to restrain him.

Mr Jordan, who was 6ft 2ins tall and weighed at least 18 stones, bit PC Fearn on the arm during the struggle and was punched several times on his forehead by the PC. Eventually he was handcuffed and restrained by several officers.

He was kneeling on the floor with his chest on the seats of a sofa in his tiny living room. But when officers attempted to bring him out of the house, Mr Jordan was unable to stand. He was carried out of the house by officers, put on a canvas stretcher and carried by police officers to an ambulance.

During the journey to Queen Mary's Hospital, he stopped breathing and despite attempts to resucitate him, was pronounced dead at the hospital.