The mother of a mentally-ill man who died after being restrained by 11 police officers in Beckenham says she "can't watch" footage of George Floyd's arrest. 

Olaseni 'Seni' Lewis died in 2010 aged 23, days after he fell unconscious under force at Bethlem Royal Hospital, where he was a mental health patient.

His mother Aji Lewis told the BBC her son could be heard saying "I can't breathe", just as Mr Floyd did as he suffocated under the knee of an officer in Minneapolis. 

Ms Lewis said: "Many other families, predominately black, we have heard our loved ones say 'I can't breathe'

"People think it's only happening in America. It's not, it's happening here."

In May 2017 an inquest at Croydon Coroner's Court found that 'unnecessary and unreasonable' excessive force 'on the balance of probability' contributed to Mr Lewis' death.

Six police officers have since however been cleared of gross misconduct. 

Mr Lewis, at IT masters graduate, never regained consciousness after he was restrained for two prolonged periods of 10 and 20 minutes, dying a few days later. 

After a prolonged family campaign, a law was passed in 2018, restricting the use of force against mental health patients. 

Under 'Seni's Law' hospitals are required to publish data on how and when physical force is used on mental health patients.

The bill also ensures that any non-natural death in a mental health unit triggers an independent inquiry.

George Floyd died on May 25 after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, put his knee on the 46-year-old's neck for several minutes as he lay handcuffed on the pavement.

Chauvin has been charged with murder, and he and the other officers involved could get up to 40 years in prison.