A WOMAN caught with cocaine in her car has been spared jail as she was reportedly suffering from “excited delirium syndrome”.
Hadiza Atunse, 25, smashed her Toyota Auris into another vehicle near a roundabout and ended up embedded in a row of hedges.
Hadiza Atunse was spared jail due to a syndromeCredit: Hadiza Atunse/ Cavendish Press (
She had crashed her car and was found with cocaineCredit: Cavendish
She failed to give a breath test and was said by to be behaving ”erratically and in an obstructive manner”.
Officers later discovered a snap bag of during a search of her belongings and found she was uninsured.
Atunse faced up to 51 weeks in after she admitted unlawful possession of cocaine, failing to provide a sample for analysis and without insurance.
But the company PA was fined £730 with costs and a surcharge of £377 after JPs heard she was taken into hospital at the time of her arrest with suspected Acute Behavioural Disturbance (ABD).
ABD – also known as excited delirium, acute behavioural disorder
or agitated delirium – is an umbrella term used to describe a medical emergency.
The syndrome is characterised by extreme distress, irrational behaviour and potential for rapid physiological collapse.
It can also lead to cardiac arrest or death and police are told to treat ABD as a medical emergency.
Crewe Magistrates’ was told Atunse was arrested at 10.30pm on December 10 last year after her car collided with a Mini Cooper in Wilmslow.
Christian Cooper, prosecuting, said: “Police found the Mini Cooper in the middle of a roundabout and the Toyota on the other side of the roundabout in some hedges.
”The defendant was out of the Toyota when officers attempted to conduct the breathalyser procedure at the road side. She failed to provide a sufficient breath despite being given multiple opportunities.
“She was described as behaving erratically and in an obstructive manner and failing to listen to instructions. She was arrested and conveyed to custody where her handbag was searched and a small snap bag of white powder was removed.
”Having been taken into custody her detention was not authorised and she was asked to be conveyed to Leighton Hospital.
“In hospital she was asked to provide a blood sample and she refused to provide that. An insurance check was carried out in respect of the vehicle and it was noted that the defendant’s insurance had expired approximately two weeks earlier on November 22.
“With regard to previous convictions, the the defendant is of good character.”
What is Acute Behavioural Disturbance (ABD)?
According to the Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s police guidance, Acute Behavioural Disturbance (ABD) is not a formal diagnosis but an ‘umbrella’ term for the clinical presentation of a number of conditions.
The condition has multiple diagnoses – including psychiatric disorders, sepsis, substance misuse, heat exhaustion and head injury/seizures.
A third of ABD cases are said to be “excited delirium syndrome” (ExDs) which has been defined as “a state of extreme mental and physiological excitement, characterised by extreme agitation, hyperthermia, hostility, exceptional strength and endurance without apparent fatigue”.
The police guidance says that more than 10 per cent of those displaying symptoms of ExDs could be at risk of cardiac arrest related death and all those suspected of having ABD or ExDS should never be taken to custody but directly to emergency departments.
The court was told a police report showed that officers believed she was suffering from ABD.
Her defence Sarah Bedford said this means “that someone is in a hyper agitated and potentially vulnerable state”.
The lawyer added: “It can lead to loss of consciousness and in some cases death.
“That was the reason she was not detained in custody and taken to Leighton Hospital. She was in a very agitated and upset state.”
Atunse was also banned from driving for 22 months but given the opportunity to take the drink drive awareness course, which if completed will reduce the ban by a quarter.
Atunse had faced up to 51 weeks in prisonCredit: Hadiza Atunse/ Cavendish Press (
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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