Mother of three grown up children Julie Hawkins, 55, of Llanharan, died of a stroke on October 14 2011, shortly after being arrested for suspected
drink driving. Ms Hawkins had a minor car accident in her Peugeot 107 after swerving onto the wrong side of Llanharry Road in Pontyclun on the way home from a 50th birthday party. Two police officers arrived at the scene of the accident and found Ms Hawkins to be slurring her words. When asked whether she'd had a drink the officers allege that she admitted to having drunk some Stella beer, and being unable to get an accurate reading on a breatalyser, decided to arrest her. Despite collapsing after walking a short distance from her car the police officers continued with the arrest apparently believing she had merely fallen asleep. In Cardiff Coroners Court a driver who had stopped to help after spotting the accident, Johnathan Sharpe, claims he saw that Ms Hawkins mouth was drooping on one side, a classic symptom of stroke. Although Sharpe claims that he told the police this on their arrival, they went ahead with the arrest and they allege that they were only given said information much later on. Ms Hawkins was arrested at around 10.30pm but by 3.30am of the next day, after being admitted to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, she had died. The jury at the Coroner's Court cited the cause of death as a hemorrhagic cerebral infarction. Toxicology tests completed following her death found no alcohol in her blood or urine. Further information on how to spot the symptoms of a stroke can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpR5_LQCyzk