A bloodstained car thief who behaved like a ‘trapped wild animal’ died after he was put in a headlock by a philosophy professor, an inquest has heard.
Daniel Smith, 35, leapt over walls and ran through hedges as he attempted to flee four police officers pursuing him over an unconnected burglary in Axminster, Devon.
The drug addict wound up in the garden of an elderly couple and tried to escape in their Volvo car – but was stopped in his tracks as he had no keys.
Smith, heavily scratched and wearing just shorts and trainers, then ran a short distance to an unlocked house where he was able to steal a set of keys and jump into a silver Vauxhall Astra.
But he was spotted by homeowner Dr Charlie Thame, a Philosophy professor, who rushed forward and got into the passenger seat with his legs dangling outside the vehicle.
Dr Thame told an inquest at Exeter Coroner’s Court he acted after feeling ‘shocked, angry and fearful’ for his girlfriend because he believed Smith may have been a violent man.
The professor, who specialises in mainland Southeast Asia and the political theory of Karl Marx, went on to describe Smith as a tall and larger man than himself who appeared to be ‘trapped like a wild animal’.
Smith reversed at speed in the vehicle but slammed into a gate post.
The thief was spotted by philosophy professor Dr Charlie Thame (pictured), who rushed forwards and got into the passenger seat
According to Dr Thame, a struggle then ensued in the car at around 10.30am with Smith attempting to punch the professor and grab his testicles.
Dr Thame said Smith was reaching down to his waistband and feared he may have been trying to get hold of a knife.
The academic tried to pull Smith from the car, punched him on the nose and claimed his arm under Smith’s armpit slipped into a headlock.
Smith stopped struggling while a neighbour screamed hysterically.
Dr Thame said: ‘The neighbour said the man was unconscious. I released him immediately.’
Smith was put on the ground and given chest compressions – with Dr Thame saying he believed the thief was on a form of opiates because of his foaming mouth and dilated pupils.
The academic refuted a neighbour’s claim he had his knee on Smith’s neck, telling the coroner: ‘At no point did I have my knee on his neck, that is a complete misrepresentation and fabrication of what transpired.’
He added that he did not think it was true he punched Smith ‘two or three times to the head and some to the body’ – saying he feared Smith would drive at his father and kill or disfigure or disable him.
Dr Thame said: ‘If I had not done what I did my father would not be sitting here today. I probably saved two lives. My actions were entirely justifiable at the time and in hindsight.’
The professor admitted there was a gradual escalation in the force he used to stop Smith running down his father and said he was having ‘to deal with the consequences of that’.
Dr Thame’s father, Geoff Thame, described the entire ordeal as ‘a bit surreal’.
He told senior coroner Philip Spinney: ‘He looked wild, very agitated, wide-eyed and frothing at the mouth. He was bouncing like a kangaroo. He was not cool, calm and collected, put it like that.’
Geoff Thame added Smith was like ‘a wild animal’ and they did not know if he was armed with a knife.
He said his son shouted at Smith to ‘get out of my f***ing car’ before he tried to grab the keys.
Geoff Thame said he went back inside to grab a gun from his cabinet to use as a threat but returned to find Smith was unconscious.
Dr Thame and neighbour Deborah Day pulled Smith from the crashed car and gave him CPR as he was not breathing.
The father said: ‘He was out cold. Charlie said “I hope he is alright, I hope he is alright”.’
In her statement, Mrs Day had told the coroner that Dr Thame put his knee on Smith’s neck, but Geoff Thame denied this saying his son’s feet were outside the car.
Mrs Day told the inquest Dr Thame put him in a headlock ‘but did not intend to kill the man’ and she said his intervention may have saved her life by stopping Smith driving at her.
Avon and Somerset police had sent four officers to the Devon–Dorset border on the hot day in July 2022 to arrest Smith over a burglary in Yeovil, Somerset, where he lived.
He was spotted in a car at the Harvest Energy service station in Axminster and the police used their two cars to block in his vehicle – but he jumped out and leapt over a wall and the pursuit began which was to end in the fatal incident.
Drug user Smith died from an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest combined with acute behavioural disturbance, cocaine use and holding restraint.
Detective Constable Sharon Moore, of Devon and Cornwall Police, told the coroner: ‘Dr Thame was interviewed while in custody and released. A decision was made later that no further action would be taken against Dr Thame whatsoever.’
The inquest will continue today.
