A FELIXSTOWE tug captain has died after police were called to investigate a disturbance at his home.Ronnie O'Reilly, 48, collapsed after police were called to investigate a possible breach of the peace after he was heard shouting at his 12-year-old son.

A FELIXSTOWE tug captain has died after a police officer investigated a disturbance at his home.

Ronnie O'Reilly, 48, collapsed after the officer entered the property to investigate a possible breach of the peace after the father was heard shouting at his 12-year-old son.

His wife Moira was also at their Clacton home when an officer entered the property, saying there had been a breach of the peace.

Shortly afterwards Mr O'Reilly collapsed onto the kitchen floor suffering from chest pains and died on the way to hospital.

The officer is now under investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is considering allegations of assault, failure to call an ambulance and failure to administer first aid quickly enough.

A post-mortem result showed father-of-three Mr O'Reilly died of natural causes but Mrs O'Reilly believes the police should not have been in the house, saying her son was simply being told off.

Essex Police has also launched investigations into the incident.

Mrs O'Reilly, 42, said she still could not believe what had happened and that her faith in the police had been destroyed.

The incident was also witnessed by the couple's son's Keiran, 15, Ronnie, 12, and their daughter Keirsen O'Reilly, 22, who was in the living room with her nine-week old son, Jack.

Mrs O'Reilly paid tribute to her husband, a tugboat captain based at Felixstowe, saying she still could not believe he had died following the incident at about 9.40pm on June 14.

She said: “He was a fantastic dad and a real family man, he taught the children football, cricket and badminton. He lived for his family.

”He was born and bred in Felixstowe and there are a lot of people in the town who are in a state of shock at his death.”

Flags at the docks have been flown at half mast as a mark of respect to Mr O'Reilly, who had worked at the docks since he was 16.

A spokesman for the IPCC confirmed it was considering allegations of assault, failure to call an ambulance and failure to administer first aid quickly enough.

Essex Police's professional standards department is investigating the incident.

A spokeswoman said she could not comment because of the ongoing investigations.