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This list of people killed by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom documents cases of people who died directly or indirectly because of the actions of British law enforcement officers, regardless of the manner of death, duty status of the officers, or if they acted officially or unofficially. It includes officers working for all law enforcement agencies, existing or historical, in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, but excludes crown dependencies, colonies or other political entities subject or previously subjected to the direct control of the government of the United Kingdom. It also excludes deaths for which other government agents are responsible, such as deaths as a result of actions of the British Armed Forces.
Many of the killings were by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Police in Northern Ireland killed 56 people during the conflict, including at least 30 civilians and at least 20 paramilitary members. [1] [2]
Name | Date | Location | Police force | Result of police action | Description | Ruling |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bryce Hodgson | 30 January 2024 | Southwark, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Shot by police after breaking in to a property armed with a crossbow and other weapons. [3] | |
Giedrius Vasiljevas | 23 November 2023 | Dagenham, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Shot by police after threatening to take his own life with a gun. [4] | |
Helen Holland | 10 May 2023 | West London, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | A police motorcycle escorting Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh struck 81-year-old Helen Holland at an intersection. Holland was hospitalised and later died. [5] | |
Heather Smedley | 23 December 2022 | Oldham, England | Greater Manchester Police | Direct | Killed after being struck by a police vehicle persuing a 3rd party | Under investigation by the IOPC [6] |
Sergii Kuzmenko | 20 December 2022 | Carlisle, England | Cumbria Constabulary | Direct | Shot after making threats with a knife at a property in Carlisle. [7] | IOPC concluded that officers acted in accordance with their training. [8] |
Marius Ciolac | 7 October 2022 | Derby, England | Derbyshire Constabulary | Direct | Armed officers shot a man allegedly wielding a knife outside a police station. Taser and baton rounds were reported to have been discharged at the male before he was finally shot, a number of knives were found at the scene of the incident. [9] | Inquest opened in November 2022 and adjourned to a date yet to be fixed. [10] |
Chris Kaba [11] | 5 September 2022 | Streatham Hill, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Police followed a vehicle being driven by Chris Kaba. Vehicle stopped after being blocked by Armed Police. Kaba was subsequently shot and taken to hospital where he died. [12] The officer was suspended from duty while being investigated for murder, the case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service by the police in 2023. | Inquest opened in October 2022. [13] |
Unidentified Man | 11 December 2021 | Kensington, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Police responded to reports of a man with a firearm in Kensington after he raided a bank and bookmakers. Around 20 minutes later, police shot the gunman dead as he travelled in the back of a taxi. A non police firearm was recovered from the scene. [14] | |
Odichukumma Kelvin Igweani | 26 June 2021 | Milton Keynes, England | Thames Valley Police | Direct | Police were called to a property in Milton Keynes where they found a young child seriously injured and another man dead after reportedly trying to save the child. A taser was deployed before officers shot the assailant dead. [15] [16] | Lawfull killing [17] |
Graham Trinder | 8 November 2020 | Swindon, England | Wiltshire Police | Direct | Wiltshire Police reported attending a call of two men "arguing in the street", during this incident, a man was shot dead by a responding officer. Cleared of any misconduct by the IOPC and it was stated a non-police issue firearm was found at the scene. [18] | Inquest opened in November 2020 [19] |
Badreddin Abadlla Adam | 26 June 2020 | Glasgow, Scotland | Police Scotland | Direct | Adam was shot by armed officers after he stabbed several people at the Park Inn Hotel in Glasgow. [20] | |
Hassan Yahya | 8 March 2020 | Westminster, London | City of London Police [21] | Direct | Shot after challenging officers with knives. [22] | |
Sudesh Amman | 2 February 2020 | Streatham, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Shot after stabbing three people with a machete while wearing a fake explosive belt. [23] [24] | Lawfull killing [25] |
William Cameron | 6 January 2020 | Loddon Valley police station, Berkshire | Thames Valley Police | Unknown | A police sergeant and a health care professional are subject to a criminal investigation in relation to his death after he arrived at the Loddon station in a state of unconsciousness. [26] [27] |
Name | Date | Location | Police force | Result of police action | Description | Ruling |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Usman Khan | 29 November 2019 | London | City of London Police and Metropolitan Police | Direct | Khan stabbed five people – two of whom later died – in the vicinity of London Bridge. He was wearing a fake explosive vest, and was shot 11 times by police, dying at the scene. [28] [29] | Lawful killing [30] |
Leroy Junior Medford | 2 April 2019 | Reading, England | Thames Valley Police | Indirect | Medford was arrested on 1 April 2019. While in custody he swallowed drugs he was carrying. [31] Despite several opportunities to implement the Drugs Standard Operating Procedure, officers failed to do so. Proper care and monitoring was not provided, leading to his deteriorating health being unnoticed. He later died in hospital. [32] | Failure to implement, the Drugs Standard Operating Procedure. [32] |
Trevor Smith | 15 March 2019 | Birmingham, England | West Midlands Police | Direct | Shot by police who surrounded a property. Police said a non-police issued firearm was recovered from the property. [33] | Lawful killing [34] |
Sean Fitzgerald | 4 January 2019 | Coventry, England | West Midlands Police | Direct | Shot, while unarmed, during an arrest operation at a property. Witnesses reported hearing four or five gunshots. Two other men were arrested at the scene on suspicion of cultivating cannabis. [35] | |
Richard Cottier | 9 April 2018 | Romford, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Cottier called police in the early hours of the morning telling them he had taken an overdose and claiming he had a gun. A member of the public also informed police of a man with a gun. Officers found Cottier at a petrol station and fired two shots. He died at the scene. [36] [37] | Lawful killing [38] |
Nuno Cardoso | 24 November 2017 | Oxford, England | Thames Valley Police | Indirect | After being confronted by officers at his student residence at Ruskin College, Oxford, Cardoso was wrestled to ground, held face down with an officer sitting on his legs. He was then struck with a baton to the back of his knee. [39] Cardoso collapsed in the back of a police van due to ingestion of alcohol, cocaine and morphine. [40] [41] Officers failed to follow guidance to take him to a nearby hospital, instead heading to Abingdon Police station, before his collapse en route. [42] | Uncritical narrative conclusion [42] |
Spencer Ashworth | 27 September 2017 | Portishead, England | Avon and Somerset Police | Direct | Police responded to reports of a man in a car with a handgun threatening other drivers. Firearms officers discharged 15 rounds of ammunition during the incident after Ashworth raised his weapon and fired at police. [43] After shots had been fired he was removed from the car by officers, who began resuscitation attempts. A non-police issued firearm (air pistol) was recovered. [44] | Lawful killing [45] |
Khalid Masood [46] | 22 March 2017 | Westminster, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | After using a vehicle to hit and kill pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, Masood ran into the grounds of the Palace of Westminster, where he fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer. An armed police officer, believed to have been the Metropolitan Police close protection officer for Michael Fallon, the Secretary of State for Defence, witnessed the stabbing, ran towards the scene and fatally shot Masood. [47] | Lawful killing [48] |
Yassar Yaqub [49] | 2 January 2017 | Huddersfield, England | West Yorkshire Police | Direct | Yaqub was shot by police at junction 24 of the M62, after they received a tip-off that people in the vehicle were in possession of a firearm. [50] A firearm was recovered from the scene. [51] | Lawful killing |
Lewis Skelton [52] | 29 November 2016 | Hull, England | Humberside Police | Direct | Police responded to reports of Skelton wielding an axe, and after deploying tasers, he was shot by armed response officers and died of his wounds in hospital. [53] [54] | Unlawful killing. The firearm's officer who shot Skelton did not face misconduct proceedings. [55] |
Josh Pitt [56] | 9 November 2016 | Luton, England | Bedfordshire Police | Direct | Police responded to assist a woman in a flat. After police arrival, Pitt barricaded himself in a room with a hostage and a number of knives, making threats to hurt the hostage. A taser was deployed but despite this he attempted to stab a police officer and was shot in the chest. [57] He was treated by officers and paramedics before being taken to hospital, where he died. Police recovered a "number of knives". [58] | Lawful killing [57] |
Dalian Atkinson | 15 August 2016 | Telford, England | West Mercia Police | Indirect (underlying health condition) | Police responded to a call that Atkinson was in a "manic state" and was threatening to kill his father. [59] After being tasered, Atkinson went into cardiac arrest on the way to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. [60] | Unlawful killing. One police officer involved was found guilty of manslaughter and was given an eight-year prison sentence. [61] |
William Smith [62] | 2 May 2016 | Goudhurst, England | Kent Police | Direct | Police fatally shot Smith during an armed operation. Smith was on bail in connection with the death of a 73-year-old man. [62] Non-police issue firearms were recovered from the address in question. [63] | Lawful killing [64] |
James Wilson [65] | 29 March 2016 | South Shields, England | Northumbria Police | Direct | Wilson was shot by a plastic bullet, and a live round from a police firearm after he refused to lower the rifle he was carrying, after being told to do so seven times. [66] He was taken to hospital, but died on 1 April. [65] | Lawful killing [67] |
Jermaine Baker [68] | 11 December 2015 | Wood Green, London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Three men were planning to free Izzet Eren, who was being taken in a prison van to Wood Green Crown Court over firearms offences. Armed police intercepted the men. Baker, who was in the front seat, was fatally shot as police surrounded his vehicle. He was unarmed, although there was an imitation Uzi in the rear foot-well behind the driver's seat. [69] [70] | Lawful killing [71] |
Richard Davies [72] | 21 October 2015 | St Neots, England | Cambridgeshire Police | Direct | Davies threatened to kill his children and fired at police a number of times before he was shot once in the chest and killed by officers. [72] | Lawful killing [73] |
James Fox [74] | 30 August 2015 | London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Shot by police after reportedly making threats to kill both a child and adult. [75] An air pistol was recovered from the scene. [76] | Lawful killing [75] |
Sheku Bayoh [77] | 3 May 2015 | Kirkcaldy, Scotland | Police Scotland | Unclear (inquest ongoing) | Bayoh was taken into police custody whilst α-PVP was in his system. It was reported he had been brandishing a knife but this was later disproved by video footage. He sustained bruising from police batons, had his arms and legs restrained and died of asphyxiation in police custody. | Inquest ongoing |
Matthew Williams [78] | 6 November 2014 | Argoed, Wales | Gwent Police | Indirect (combination of police restraint and fatal drug overdose) [79] | Williams, who had recently been released from prison, attacked and killed a 22-year-old woman, identified as Cerys Yemm. Police responded to a 999 call to find Williams eating Yemm's corpse and shouted a warning, which Williams ignored. PC Alan Cotterell and several unidentified officers then tasered Williams before handcuffing him. Williams became unresponsive and died shortly after. | |
Dean Joseph [80] [81] [82] | 5 September 2014 | London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Shot by a police marksman after holding a woman at gunpoint in an armed standoff. [83] | Lawful killing [83] |
Anthony Grainger | 3 March 2012 | Culcheth, England | Greater Manchester Police | Direct | Grainger was shot by police while sitting unarmed in a stolen vehicle. In January 2014 the Crown Prosecution Service announced they would be prosecuting Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy under health and safety legislation over the shooting, and a full public inquiry into Grainger's death was announced in early 2016. [84] | Greater Manchester Police found to be at fault. [85] However, in January 2015, William Boyce QC, at Liverpool Crown Court accepted an 'abuse of process' argument from the defence. |
Mark Duggan | 4 August 2011 | London | Metropolitan Police | Direct | Duggan was known to possess illegal firearms. Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack, and possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The killing resulted in public protests in Tottenham, which led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities. In January 2014 a jury returned the verdict of lawful killing. [86] | Lawful killing [87] |
Kingsley Burrell [88] | 31 March 2011 | Birmingham, England | West Midlands Police | Indirect (cardiac arrest following restraint) | Died in hospital as a result of asphyxiation after being detained under the Mental Health Act and left in a face-down position on a hospital bed. [88] One police officer of the West Midlands Police was sacked due to gross misconduct having given a misleading account to investigators. His actions were not found to be contributory to Burrell's death. [89] Injuries from restraint were not found to be the cause of Burrell's death. | Inconclusive |
Marc Ringland | 3 February 2011 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Police Service of Northern Ireland | Direct | While robbing a petrol station armed with a knife, Ringland threatened an off-duty police officer, who then fired a single shot with his authorised personal protection handgun, fatally wounding him. [90] | |
Olaseni Lewis | 3 September 2010 | London | Metropolitan Police | Indirect (died as a result of restraint by police and medical staff) | After being admitted to a mental health ward, Lewis died 3 days after a period of prolonged restraint by police officers. It was identified that a litany of failures by both police and medical staff contributed to Lewis's death. [91] The misconduct case was dismissed on 6 October 2017 as claims of wrongdoing were "unproven" and any failings were "performance matters". [92] | Narrative conclusion after unlawful killing ruled out by coroner. [93] |
Name | Date | Location | Police force | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Keith Richards [94] | 12 May 2009 | Shildon, England | Durham Constabulary | Shot after brandishing a crossbow and urging police to shoot him. [94] |
Ian Tomlinson | 1 April 2009 | London | Metropolitan Police | Tomlinson collapsed and died after being struck by a police officer during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. After an inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing, the officer, Simon Harwood, was prosecuted for manslaughter. He was found not guilty but was dismissed from the police service for gross misconduct. |
Mervyn Tussler [95] | 8 May 2009 | Fernhurst, England | Sussex Police | Tussler fired on police officers from his bed in his sheltered accommodation. [95] Inquest jury returned a verdict of lawful killing. [95] |
David Sycamore [96] | 30 November 2008 | Guildford, England | Surrey Police | Shot after brandishing a replica pistol and saying he would "start shooting people". [96] |
Andrew Hammond [97] | 29 October 2008 | Harold Hill, London | Metropolitan Police | Shot after pointing a replica AK-47 at armed police officers who responded to reports of a man brandishing a firearm in the street. [98] |
Sean Rigg | 21 August 2008 | Brixton, London | Metropolitan Police | Rigg died following a cardiac arrest while in police custody at the entrance to Brixton police station. The Independent Police Complaints Commission concluded that there was no evidence of neglect or wrongdoing and that police had acted "reasonably and proportionately". The case became a cause célèbre for civil rights and justice campaigners in the UK, who called for "improvement and change on a national level" regarding deaths in police custody and police treatment of suspects with mental health issues. [99] |
Habib Ullah [100] | 3 July 2008 | High Wycombe, England | Thames Valley Police | Suffered cardiac arrest whilst being restrained during search. |
Mark Saunders [101] | 6 May 2008 | London | Metropolitan Police | Saunders fired a number of shots from his shotgun from his house at neighbouring houses. On arrival of armed police, he shot at them. After a lengthy standoff, he was shot by police when he pointed his firearm in their direction. [101] |
Dayniel Tucker [102] | 29 December 2007 | Stansted, England | Kent Police | Shot after pointing a replica Uzi sub-machine gun at police. [102] |
Ann Sanderson [103] | 11 June 2007 | Sevenoaks, England | Kent Police | Sanderson was shot in an armed standoff with police while armed with an air pistol. Sanderson had mental health issues and had bought an air gun days before her death. The case was ruled as a lawful killing as Sanderson had instigated the incident. [104] |
Terry Nicholas [105] | 15 May 2007 | Ealing, London | Metropolitan Police | Nicholas fired at police officers and was fatally shot by firearms officers. [105] |
Robert Haines | 31 October 2006 | New Romney, Kent | Metropolitan Police | Haines undertook an armed robbery and fired at police. Police returned fire. [106] Haines died of his wounds en route to hospital. [107] |
Steven Colwell | 16 April 2006 | Ballynahinch, Northern Ireland | Police Service of Northern Ireland | Shot after attempting to evade a police checkpoint in a stolen car. [108] [109] |
Philip Marsden [110] | 19 December 2005 | Meir, England | Staffordshire Police | Shot after adopting a "firing stance" while carrying an imitation firearm and a sword. [110] |
Craig King [111] | 11 September 2005 | Ashton-under-Lyne, England | Greater Manchester Police | King had been involved in a disturbance where he was destroying property with a machete, before firing shots into a building occupied by unarmed police. On arrival of armed police, King pointed his .22 calibre rifle at them and was shot by police. [112] |
Jean Charles de Menezes | 22 July 2005 | London | Metropolitan Police | Menezes was a Brazilian man killed by officers at Stockwell Station on the London Underground after he was wrongly deemed to be one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. These events took place two weeks after the London bombings of 7 July 2005, in which 52 people were killed. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched two investigations. In July 2006, the Crown Prosecution Service said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any named individual police officers, although a criminal prosecution of the Commissioner in his official capacity on behalf of his police force was brought under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, on the failure of the duty of care due to Menezes. The Commissioner was found guilty and his office was fined. [113] [114] |
John Mark Scott [115] | 16 July 2005 | Stocksfield, England | Northumbria Police | Scott assaulted a woman and then barricaded himself in a house. [116] He appeared at an upstairs window with what appeared to be a firearm and was shot by armed police. [117] A loaded firearm and ammunition were recovered from the address. |
Azelle Rodney | 30 April 2005 | London | Metropolitan Police | Rodney was shot six times by police, who stopped the car he was travelling in with two other men. Police had observed them picking up three weapons, believed to be MAC-10 sub-machine guns. After a public inquiry led by Lord Bach, it was found that the killing of Rodney was unlawful and eventually resulted in the case for prosecution of the officer who fired the fatal shots for the charges of murder. The jury found the officer not guilty. [118] |
Simon Murden [111] | 22 March 2005 | Hull, England | Humberside Police | Murden was alleged to have been suffering a psychotic episode. He left his house and drove a van against the flow of traffic, crashing with another vehicle. Murden abandoned the vehicle and brandished a sword. Police shot and killed Murden. An independent inquest ruled it a lawful killing. [119] |
Nicholas Palmer [111] | 12 May 2004 | Thornton Heath, London | Metropolitan Police | Palmer was killed while on bail for arms offences, his death ruled as being lawful. |
Philip Prout [120] [111] | 4 May 2004 | Cornwall | Devon and Cornwall Police | Prout was reported to have a machete and a firearm and to have made threats to kill. Police attended and surrounded his house and initiated negotiations. Prout emerged from the house brandishing a "samurai sword". [121] Officers attempted to fire a baton gun (which failed to fire twice) before he was shot by police. [122] |
Keith Larkins [123] | 6 June 2003 | Heathrow Airport, London | Metropolitan Police | Larkins, who was reported to be mentally ill, shot blanks from a replica firearm. Two police officers then fired on Larkins, killing him. The incident was ruled as a lawful killing. [123] |
Derek Bennett [124] [111] | 16 July 2001 | Brixton, London | Metropolitan Police | Bennet threatened members of the public with a replica gun, then pointed it at armed police officers who fired on Bennet four times. Bennet had reportedly boasted to friends that the replica was real but on closer inspection it was revealed to be a novelty cigarette lighter. A verdict confirmed the case as a lawful killing. [125] |
Andrew Kernan [126] | 21 July 2001 | Liverpool, England | Merseyside Police | Kernan suffered from schizophrenia and during an episode police were called to his home. He fled and brandished a samurai sword. After a stand-off, two shots were fired and Kernan was killed. After a four-year inquiry the killing was deemed lawful. [126] |
Patrick O'Donell [124] | 30 October 2000 | Islington, London | Metropolitan Police | Shot after taking his mother and girlfriend hostage in a siege. |
Kirk Davies [111] | 24 September 2000 | Wakefield, England | West Yorkshire Police | Davies walked into a police station with an air gun and threatened staff. A manhunt was launched and he was surrounded by armed officers outside Newton Lodge secure psychiatric unit, but Davies ignored repeated requests to give himself up before marksmen opened fire. Davies was regarded as being "emotionally disturbed" and was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder after fighting in the Croatian Army during the Croatian War of Independence. [127] |
Name | Date | Location | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Harry Stanley | 22 September 1999 | London, England | He was returning home from a pub while carrying a table leg, in a plastic bag. Someone reported to police "an Irishman with a gun wrapped in a bag". Near his home, an armed response unit challenged Stanley from behind. As he turned to face them, they shot him dead from 15 feet (5 m). |
Derek Bateman [111] | 22 June 1999 | Surrey, England | Shot after his girlfriend told officers he was armed and was threatening to shoot her, or himself. |
Anthony Kitts [111] [128] | 10 April 1999 | Falmouth, Cornwall | Shot after repeatedly aiming an air rifle at police. |
Christopher Alder | 1 April 1998 | Kingston upon Hull, England | Unlawfully killed by asphyxiation, having been placed unconscious and handcuffed on the floor of a police station. |
Michael Fitzgerald [111] [129] | February 1998 | Bedford, England | Shot after aiming a replica Colt 45 at police, in his home, after he was mistaken for an armed burglar. |
James Ashley | 15 January 1998 | St Leonards-on-Sea, England | Shot at his flat while unarmed and naked during a raid by armed officers. [130] [111] The officer responsible was charged with murder and acquitted, and several senior officers were charged or disciplined. |
David Howell [111] | November 1996 | Birmingham, England | Psychiatric patient shot in at a Co-op supermarket. |
Diarmuid O'Neill | 23 September 1996 | London, England | IRA member, shot during police raid. |
John Christopher Gardiner | 10 May 1996 | Blackburn, England | Died of heart failure while in police custody following a struggle during his arrest. [131] |
Ibrahim Sey [132] | 16 March 1996 | Ilford, England | Died in Ilford police station. His wife had called police because he appeared to be having a mental breakdown. He was sprayed with CS gas, and four police officers restrained him, face down on the ground, for 15 minutes. When they noticed he was not breathing, an ambulance was called; when the ambulance arrived, he was dead, face down and wearing handcuffs. [133] |
David Ewin [111] | April 1995 | London, England | Former robber killed in a stolen car. Officer was tried and cleared of murder. |
James Brady [111] | April 1995 | Newcastle, England | Shot in a police ambush. |
Richard O'Brien [134] | 4 April 1994 | London, England | Died at Walworth Police Station after being arrested for being drunk and disorderly. An officer said O'Brien stopped breathing after holding him face down on the ground with his knee on O'Brien's back. The officer began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while an ambulance was called. The three officers involved were found not guilty of manslaughter. The prosecution alleged the officers used too much force to hold down O'Brien for more than five minutes, during which time he died of postural asphyxia. However, a pathologist for the defence said O'Brien had a heart attack due to his size and enlarged heart. |
Robin Maxwell [135] | 27 January 1994 | Donaghadee, Northern Ireland | Protestant civilian, shot during attempted robbery at filling station. |
Joy Gardner | 1 August 1993 | Crouch End, London | Gardner died after being detained during a police immigration raid on her home in Crouch End, when she was restrained with handcuffs and leather straps and gagged with a 13-foot length of adhesive tape wrapped around her head. [136] Unable to breathe, she collapsed and suffered brain damage due to asphyxia. [137] She was placed on life support but died following a cardiac arrest four days later. [138] In 1995, three of the police officers involved stood trial for Gardner's manslaughter, but were acquitted. [139] |
David Luckhurt [111] [140] | 18 April 1993 | Cheshunt, Hertfordshire | Shot at the end of a four-hour siege, after firing at officers surrounding his home. |
Leon Patterson | 27 November 1992 | Manchester, England | Died in police custody. MP Harry Michael Cohen said, "Leon Patterson, 31, was detained on remand at Stockport police station in November 1992. After six days he was transferred to Denton police station, where he died a few hours later. Covered in bruises, he received no proper medical treatment despite suffering diarrhoea and vomiting for several days. He was heavily dosed with Mogadon. The inquest said that he was unlawfully killed and that a failure of duty contributed to or caused his death; yet no one was prosecuted". [141] |
Pearse Jordan | 25 November 1992 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | IRA member, shot immediately after his car was stopped by an undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary mobile patrol. [135] |
Gerard Maginn | 3 November 1991 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Catholic civilian, shot in the back of a stolen car. [135] [142] |
Kevin McGovern | 29 September 1991 | Cookstown, Northern Ireland | Catholic civilian, shot by an undercover officer. [135] |
Colm Marks | 10 April 1991 | Downpatrick, Northern Ireland | IRA member, shot while preparing a mortar bomb. [135] |
Names | Date | Location | Description |
---|---|---|---|
| 3 June 2017 | Southwark, London | Terrorists shot during the 2017 London Bridge attack |
| 13 September 2007 | Chandler's Ford, Hampshire | Armed robbers (see Chandler's Ford shooting). Nunes was shot by police when he aimed a handgun at the head of a security guard during a cash delivery. Markland was shot after he picked up Nunes's weapon. [156] |
| 2 March 2002 | Liverpool, England | Two 14-year-old boys killed after hitting a HGV vehicle, that Mersey Tunnels Police attempted to use as a rolling road block in order to stop them at approximately 100 Mph in a stolen vehicle. An inquiry led to the verdict of unlawful killing and led to Mersey Tunnels Police officers having to go through the same standard of police training as other police forces. Five officers were suspended for the incident however none of them faced any criminal charges. The incident led many to call for the policing of the tunnels to be transferred to Merseyside Police. |
| 4 February 1992 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Catholic civilians shot by an off-duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, Constable Allen Moore, in a Sinn Féin office in Belfast. The officer entered the building disguised as a journalist before opening fire with a shotgun. He killed himself shortly after. [158] |
| 15 July 1987 | Plumstead, London | Shot by police during an attempted armed robbery of a wages van at an abattoir in Shooters Hill. The marksman feared for the life of the van driver and fired on three of the assailants. Two died at the scene; the third was injured by gunfire but survived. |
| 13 August 1983 | Dungannon, Northern Ireland | Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) members, shot while launching a gun attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) guard hut. [159] |
| 12 December 1982 | Armagh, Northern Ireland | Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) members, shot by undercover officers at a vehicle checkpoint. [160] See shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland. |
| 11 November 1982 | Craigavon, Northern Ireland | Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) members, shot by undercover officers at a vehicle checkpoint. [160] See shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland. |
| 20 March 1974 | Markethill, Northern Ireland | British soldiers, shot by mistake. They had been driving civilian vehicles when they were shot by Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers, who believed the soldiers were paramilitaries. [161] |
| 1 March 1972 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Irish Travellers, shot during a police chase while in a stolen van. [162] |
1 January 1957 | Brookeborough, Northern Ireland | Irish Republican Army (IRA) members shot while launching an attack on a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base during the Border Campaign. | |
| 23 June 1922 | Cushendall, Northern Ireland | A group of Ulster Special Constables opened fire on civilians in the village while preparing to enforce a nightly curfew. Special Constables summarily executed three young Catholic men by shooting them at close range. They claimed they were ambushed by the IRA and returned fire, but a British government inquiry concluded that this was not true. The report was not made public for almost a century. [163] |
| 13 June 1922 | Lislea, Northern Ireland | Ulster Special Constables forced the two Catholic men into the back of a police truck in Bessbrook. Their bodies were found riddled with bullets a few miles away. [164] |
| 24 May 1922 | Glenariff, Northern Ireland | Two Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers killed in a firefight with the Ulster Special Constabulary. [165] [166] |
| 19 May 1922 | Desertmartin, Northern Ireland | In revenge for the burning of a Protestant-owned mill, Ulster Special Constables took four Catholic men from their homes nearby, lined them up by the roadside and summarily executed them. [167] |
| 1 April 1922 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Arnon Street killings: Men in police uniform, believed to be Ulster Special Constables, broke into Catholic homes, shooting and beating six people to death, including a 7-year-old boy. It was believed to be in revenge for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) killing of a policeman. |
| 24 March 1922 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | McMahon killings: Men in police uniform, believed to be Ulster Special Constables, broke into the home of a Catholic family and shot all males inside, killing six. It was believed to be in revenge for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) killing of two policemen. |
| 6 July 1921 | Altnaveigh, Ireland | Men believed to be Ulster Special Constables took four Catholic men from their homes near Newry "for questioning" and summarily executed them. [168] |
| 8 June 1921 | Corrogs, Ireland | The Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambushed an Ulster Special Constabulary patrol at Carrogs, near Newry. In reprisal, Special Constables went to the nearest farmhouse and fatally shot two Catholic brothers. The IRA fired on the Specials from a nearby hill, killing one and forcing them to withdraw. [169] |
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom.
The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small secretive Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – and to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. The Red Hand Commando carried out shootings and bombings, primarily targeting Catholic civilians. As well as allowing other loyalist groupings to claim attacks in their name, the organisation has also allegedly used the cover names "Red Branch Knights" and "Loyalist Retaliation and Defence Group". It is named after the Red Hand of Ulster, and is unique among loyalist paramilitaries for its use of an Irish language motto, Lamh Dearg Abu, meaning 'red hand to victory'.
The Kingsmill massacre was a mass shooting that took place on 5 January 1976 near the village of Whitecross in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Gunmen stopped a minibus carrying eleven Protestant workmen, lined them up alongside it and shot them. Only one victim survived, despite having been shot 18 times. A Catholic man on the minibus was allowed to go free. A group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed responsibility. It said the shooting was retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists, particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before. The Kingsmill massacre was the climax of a string of tit-for-tat killings in the area during the mid-1970s, and was one of the deadliest mass shootings of the Troubles.
This is a chronology of activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1970 to 1979.
The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. An eight-man unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base in the village. An IRA member drove a digger with a bomb in its bucket through the perimeter fence, while the rest of the unit arrived in a van and fired on the building. The bomb exploded and destroyed almost half of the base. Soldiers from the British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) then returned fire both from within the base and from hidden positions around it in a pre-planned ambush, killing all of the attackers. Two of them were subsequently found to have been unarmed when they were killed.
Seán Savage was a member of the Provisional IRA who was shot dead by the British Army whilst being accused attempting to plant a car bomb in Gibraltar.
The Reavey and O'Dowd killings were two coordinated gun attacks on 4 January 1976 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Six Catholic civilians died after members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, broke into their homes and shot them. Three members of the Reavey family were shot at their home in Whitecross and four members of the O'Dowd family were shot at their home in Ballydougan. Two of the Reaveys and three of the O'Dowds were killed outright, with the third Reavey victim dying of brain haemorrhage almost a month later.
The Ballymurphy massacre was a series of incidents between 9 and 11 August 1971, in which the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army killed eleven civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of Operation Demetrius. The shootings were later referred to as Belfast's Bloody Sunday, a reference to the killing of civilians by the same battalion in Derry a few months later, known as Bloody Sunday. The 1972 inquests had returned an open verdict on all of the killings, but a 2021 coroner's report found that all those killed had been innocent and that the killings were "without justification".
The Springhill massacre was an incident in which five Catholic residents were killed by the British Army in the Springhill estate in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 9 July 1972, during the Troubles. Three of the victims were teenagers, including a 13-year-old girl, and another was a Catholic priest waving a white flag as he went to attend one of the injured.
This is a timeline of actions by the Irish republican paramilitary groups referred to as the Real Irish Republican Army and New Irish Republican Army. The Real IRA was formed in 1997 by disaffected members of the Provisional IRA. Since July 2012, when Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican groups merged with it, the group has been called the New IRA; although it continues to call itself simply "the Irish Republican Army".
This is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1971. Most of these actions took place during the conflict known as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The UDA's declared goal was to defend Loyalist areas from attack and to combat Irish republican paramilitaries. However, most of its victims were Irish Catholic civilians, who were often chosen at random.
This is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group since 1966. It includes actions carried out by the Red Hand Commando (RHC), a group integrated into the UVF shortly after their formation in 1972. It also includes attacks claimed by the Protestant Action Force (PAF), a covername used by the UVF. Most of these actions took place during the conflict known as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland.
The Military Reaction Force, Military Reconnaissance Force or Mobile Reconnaissance Force (MRF) was a covert intelligence-gathering and counterinsurgency unit of the British Army active in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The unit was formed during the summer of 1971 and operated until late 1972 or early 1973. MRF teams operated in plain clothes and civilian vehicles, equipped with pistols and submachine guns. They were tasked with tracking and arresting or killing members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). It is alleged that the MRF killed a number of Catholic civilians in drive-by shootings.
The dissident Irish republican campaign began at the end of the Troubles, a 30-year political conflict in Northern Ireland. Since the Provisional Irish Republican Army called a ceasefire and ended its campaign in 1997, breakaway groups opposed to the ceasefire and to the peace agreements have continued a low-level armed campaign against the security forces in Northern Ireland. The main paramilitaries involved are the Real IRA, Continuity IRA and formerly Óglaigh na hÉireann. They have targeted the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the British Army in gun and bomb attacks as well as with mortars and rockets. They have also carried out bombings that are meant to cause disruption. However, their campaign has not been as intensive as the Provisional IRA's, and political support for groups such as the Real IRA is "tending towards zero".
The Battle of Lenadoon was a series of gun battles fought over a six day period from 9–14 July 1972 between the Provisional IRA and the British Army. It started on Thursday, 9 July 1972 in and around the Lenadoon Avenue area and spread to other places in Belfast. Loyalist paramilitaries and the Official Irish Republican Army were involved in some of the incidents. 28 people in total were killed in Belfast according to the CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths. The violence ended a two-week truce between the forces of the British Government and the IRA.
In the late hours of 3 February and the early hours of 4 February 1973, six men, all of whom were Catholics, were shot and killed in the New Lodge area of north Belfast:
The following is a Timeline of British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) undercover operations during Operation Banner during the 1969 – 1998 Northern Irish conflict in Northern Ireland that resulted in death or injury. Including operations by the SAS, 14 Intelligence Company, the Military Reaction Force (MRF), RUC Special Patrol Group and Special Branch.
The New Irish Republican Army, or New IRA, is an Irish republican paramilitary group. It is a continuation of the Real Irish Republican Army, which began to be called the 'New IRA' in July 2012 when Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) and other small republican militant groups merged with it. The group calls itself simply "the Irish Republican Army". The New IRA has launched many attacks against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the British Army. It is the largest and most active of the "dissident republican" paramilitary groups waging a campaign against the British security forces in Northern Ireland.
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