Sister of man who died on 40th birthday after being put in a 'chokehold' by his friend speaks out as new details emerge

The sister of a man who died while celebrating his 40th birthday after being put in a 'chokehold' by his friend who 'feared he'd be raped or sexually assaulted by him' has claimed he was 'portrayed as a sexual predator'.

David Toulson died at his Salford apartment on June 25, 2022. He had been out with his pals, former prison officer James Johnson and two other women at a bottomless brunch in the Gay Village, before they continued the celebrations at his apartment.

Johnson previously claimed at trial he feared he was going to be 'raped or sexually assaulted' by Mr Toulson, and so put him in a 'guillotine chokehold' and 'kept hold of in that hold until he felt it was safe to let go’, the court previously heard.

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He later called 999 when Mr Toulson became unresponsive, telling the operator he thought he had killed him. Following a trial, a jury later found him not guilty of murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.

An inquest into David's death opened at Bolton Coroner's Court on Monday (November 18). David, who previously changed his name to pursue a career in law after acting in pornographic films when he was in his 20s, died at his apartment in Adelphi Wharf on the evening of his birthday, on June 25 2022.

Dr Jamie Robinson, a forensic pathologist, told the hearing how David suffered a number of injuries. He said there was 'significant' bruising in the neck and damage to the deep soft tissue, 'excessive bruising and fractures' of the larynx, haemorrhages in the eye membrane and skin, as well as further bruising at the back of the neck.

Mr Robinson told the hearing that the compression on David's neck, causing asphyxia, was 'likely' the principle cause of his death - adding that 'such pressure would need to be sustained for probably several minutes'.

"Given the extent of the injuries and the presence of several fractures, this would indicate significant force, and also most likely sustained force with pressure being applied to the neck," Mr Robinson said.

"Loss of consciousness would usually occur within seconds. Damage to the brain cells due to lack of oxygen due to the compression of the neck would normally take a few minutes - around three at least. In this case, I considered the neck compression, in order for death to occur, would need to be sustained."

The hearing was also told how David also suffered a 'significant blunt force injury' to the back of his head, which had caused 'nerve damage' to the brain 'consistent with a physical, traumatic injury'. He said it would have been 'likely to have affected Mr Toulson’s ability to defend himself and communicate' and could have been caused by a blunt object or a fall to the floor.

David, a fraud prevention officer, also had injuries to his upper arm which were 'consistent with forceful gripping' and that his other injuries 'indicated there had been a violent struggle or fight in the period leading up to his death', the inquest heard.

Manchester Crown Court previously heard Mr Johnson, who is a straight man; Mr Toulson, who was gay; and two women had been out celebrating Mr Toulson’s birthday on June 25 last year, in which they had been to a bottomless brunch drag event in the Canal Street area.

After going back to the apartment later that day, the inquest heard how the then-accused Mr Johnson had sent a location pin to his friend saying: “Tommo I’m worried, I need you to send the police where we are”, the second adding: “I’m not f***** about, come on.”

Mr Johnson was arrested, and told officers over a number of police interviews that he had taken some of the white powder he believed to be cocaine, felt unwell and had gone to the bathroom to be sick and that whilst there Mr Toulson 'tried to drag him out of the bathroom and into the bedroom in order - so he believed - to have sex with him'.

Evidence heard from Mark Taylor, a forensic toxicologist, showed that alcohol, cocaine and ketamine were present in David's bloodstream at the time of his death. He had 164mg of alcohol in his blood - two times the legal drink-drive limit - along with cocaine and ketamine concentrations that were 'not particularly high' and in keeping with recreational use on the day of the fatal incident.

They were also found in Mr Johnson's system the following morning. “The presence of cocaine and ketamine detected in the blood confirmed the ingestion of those substances," Mr Taylor said.

"There had been a time interval, [so], in summary, those levels would be in-keeping with recreational use on the day in question. They don’t indicate excessive or heavy abuse."

On the first day of the inquest, Mr Johnson's friend, Paul Tomlinson, said David was 'always friendly' and that it had been a 'running joke in the group' that 'something would happen' between David and James.

"It was never going to," he said. "James is straight and David was a gay man - but it was a bit of a banter thing. It was just the way our friendship group worked, and everyone was in on it. It wasn’t digging at anybody.

"There was good banter between them. We’d always have a laugh together. I'd never seen any sort of issue between them."

Mr Tomlinson said on the afternoon of the fatal incident, he received a Facetime video call from David. "He showed me two girls completely passed out in the living room and Jimmy [James] in the bathroom," he said. "He was half awake, didn't move very much, and answered with a bit of a grunt. I thought in my head they had drank too much."

At the hearing, David's sister Marie Buckley also gave evidence and paid tribute to her brother, describing him as 'a supportive brother and friend' and a 'gentle man with a big heart' who 'was jovial and loved life'. She said he 'didn't go out that much' and would drink 'an occasional beer or whiskey'.

"He came out when he was about 16 years old. He was very much an openly gay man, wasn’t ashamed, and he never hid his sexuality from anybody," she said.

She said that in court, her brother had been 'portrayed as a sexual predator' and claimed that the 'sexual banter' between him and friend Mr Johnson was 'not one-sided.'

Ms Buckley also told coroner Peter Sigee that her brother David had been supporting Mr Johnson after claiming he had been suspended from his role as a prison officer after an allegation of 'inappropriate force'.

"Even though he would make jovial [sexual] references, he would never cross that line to the point of making someone uncomfortable. That was never his intention - and that’s not who he was as a person, certainly not in my presence," she told the inquest.

"My brother has been portrayed as a sexual predator. He’s not here to have his own voice. Hopefully what it allows me to do is have that platform to tell you about David and to highlight that it wasn’t one sided banter - it was mutual.

"When I received David's belongings back, I wasn't able to see full conversations, but what I saw is that it shows the sexual banter and context [between them] wasn’t just one sided. It was initiated from Mr Johnson as well. The banter was very much mutual.

"My voice is David’s voice. My brother sustained a violent and prolonged attack," she said.

The inquest, expected to last for five days, continues.