Date | 4 August 2011 |
---|---|
Time | 18:15 BST |
Location | Tottenham Hale, London, England, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°35′17″N0°03′32″W / 51.587944°N 0.058861°W |
Participants | Metropolitan Police Service, Mark Duggan |
Deaths | 1 (Duggan) |
Non-fatal injuries | 1 (police officer) |
Inquiries | Independent Police Complaints Commission |
Inquest | 16 September 2013 – 8 January 2014 |
Coroner | Keith Cutler |
Verdict | Lawful killing |
Children | 6, including Kemani [1] |
Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black British man, was shot dead by police in Tottenham, North London on 4 August 2011. The Metropolitan Police stated that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan on suspicion of planning an attack and that he was in possession of a handgun. Duggan died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The circumstances of Duggan's death resulted in public protests in Tottenham, [2] which led to conflict with police and escalated into riots across London and other English cities. [3]
Duggan was under investigation by Operation Trident, an anti-crime project conducted by the Metropolitan Police. He was aware of this and texted the message "Trident have jammed me" moments before the incident. [4]
He was known to be in possession of a BBM Bruni Model 92 handgun, a blank-firing replica of a Beretta 92 pistol, converted to fire live rounds. This had been given to him by Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, 15 minutes before he was shot. At an initial trial of Hutchinson-Foster in September–October 2012 the jury failed to reach a verdict. At a re-trial on 31 January 2013 Hutchinson-Foster was convicted of supplying Duggan with the gun and jailed. In August 2013 the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said its investigation had substantially ended and that they had found no evidence of criminality by the police. [5] A public inquest on the Duggan death began on 16 September 2013, and ended on 8 January 2014 with an 8–2 majority concluding that Duggan's death was a lawful killing. [6]
Conflicting accounts of the events leading up to Duggan's death were provided by the Metropolitan Police, [7] [8] attracting criticism and suspicion from invested parties and other supporters. [9] These critics accused police of misconduct and of failing to cooperate with those investigating Duggan's death. [10] [11] [12] [13]
Mark Duggan was born on 15 September 1981 [14] and grew up in Broadwater Farm, north London. His parents were of mixed Irish and African-Caribbean descent. [15] Between the ages of 12 and 17, he lived with his maternal aunt Carole in Manchester. [16] His maternal aunt Julie was married to Manchester gangland boss Desmond Noonan. [17]
At the time of his death, Duggan and his long-term partner Semone Wilson had three children together aged 10 years, 7 years, and 18 months. [15] He had a fourth child with another woman, [18] and a third woman was pregnant with his baby at the time of his death. [19] He was the father of six children in total, the youngest of whom was born after his death. [16]
Duggan had worked at Stansted Airport, and had applied for a job as a firefighter, according to his cousin. [20] Duggan's son, Kemani, is a member of the UK drill collective OFB going by the moniker Bandokay. [21]
According to Tony Thompson of the London Evening Standard , Duggan may have been a founding member of North London's "Star Gang", [22] an offshoot of the Tottenham Mandem gang. [23] Unnamed police sources alleged via The Daily Telegraph that Duggan was a "well known gangster" [24] and a "major player and well known to the police in Tottenham". [25]
Officers attached to Operation Trident had Duggan under surveillance; police stated that they suspected Duggan was planning to commit a crime in retaliation for the killing of his cousin, Kelvin Easton, [26] who was stabbed to death outside a bar in East London in March 2011. [27] Duggan was described as having been increasingly paranoid [28] [29] as a consequence of his cousin's death. The Daily Telegraph alleged that Duggan was bound to avenge his cousin's death by the "street code" [26] of the gang.
After Duggan's death, he was described as a drug dealer by the police and others, an allegation denied by his family and friends. [30] Duggan's family said the allegations against Duggan were "disinformation", and that he was "not a gang member and he had no criminal record". [31] Duggan had been convicted of cannabis possession and handling stolen goods. [32] His fiancée said he had spent time on remand. [14]
Officers of the Metropolitan Police Service stopped a minicab which was carrying Duggan as a passenger at about 18:15 BST on 4 August 2011. [33] There was no CCTV coverage of the place where they stopped the cab. [34]
According to an unnamed firearms officer at the trial of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster in September 2012, Duggan pivoted out of the cab and pulled a selfloading pistol or handgun from his waistband. [35] According to the taxi driver, who was granted anonymity at the subsequent inquest, Duggan left the car and ran:
The car that had stopped – men got out of it very quickly who were carrying guns in their hands. Then I heard the sound of my rear door opening. I saw that Mark Duggan got out and ran. At the same time, I heard firing from the front. I saw shots strike Mark Duggan. He fell to the ground. 'Mark Duggan only got 2ft–3ft from my car when he was shot'.
At the same time a man came and he opened my door. Very angrily he pulled me out by my arm and then he dropped me or knelt me down on the ground by the rear tyres of the car. [36] [37]
The taxi driver told the inquest that an armed officer had threatened to shoot him if he did not stop looking at where Duggan had fallen to the ground and was being handled "quite harsh[ly] and callous[ly]" by officers.
The police fired twice, hitting Duggan in the biceps and chest, killing him. A firearm was found at the scene. [35] Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and medical staff from London's Air Ambulance attended, but Duggan was pronounced dead at the scene at 18:41 BST. [38] [39]
The police who shot Duggan were part of the Specialist Firearms Command (CO19), accompanying officers from Operation Trident. [30]
According to one eyewitness cited by The Independent, Duggan "was shot while he was pinned to the floor by police". [40] According to another eyewitness cited in The Telegraph, a police officer had "shouted to the man to stop 'a couple of times', but he had not heeded the warning". [24] According to a witness cited by the BBC, a police officer twice shouted: "Put it down" before Duggan was shot. [41] However, the taxi driver who was travelling with Duggan told the inquest the police shouted no warning before shooting. [37] A Metropolitan Police Federation representative asserted that the officer who killed Duggan had "an honest-held belief that he was in imminent danger of him and his colleagues being shot". [42]
One of the officers who had surrounded Duggan was hit by a bullet, which lodged in his radio. It had been fired by the policeman identified only as V53 and had passed through Duggan's arm and then hit the officer. [4] The shot policeman was taken to a hospital and discharged the same evening. [43]
Police proceeded to move the taxi in which Duggan had been travelling. [8] After some dispute over when the vehicle was moved, it was stated that police moved the taxi for examination and then returned it to the scene. [44] A local equality advocate said that the IPCC initially had no knowledge of these events, but later stated that it had sanctioned removal of the vehicle and then requested that it be restored to the scene. [45]
An initial "short-form" report of the incident—filed by an officer identified as "W70"—did not say that Duggan had raised a gun. W70 filed another report 48 hours later which described Duggan drawing a gun from his waistband. Officer W70 later testified that short-form reports are "deliberately brief". [7]
Police did not inform Duggan's family of his death until a day and a half after he was killed. The police later apologised for this delay. [46]
Initially, a spokesman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) stated that they "understand the officer was shot first before [Duggan] was shot;" [24] [28] police later called this statement a mistake. [8] [47] A bullet was found embedded in a radio worn by a policeman, [48] and ballistics tests on the projectile indicate it was a "jacketed round", or police issue bullet fired from a Heckler & Koch MP5 semi-automatic carbine used by the police. [38] Its presence may have been due to a ricochet or overpenetration. [48] [49]
On 18 November 2011, the IPCC announced that the 9mm gun associated with the scene of the killing had been found 10–14 feet (3.0–4.3 m) away, on the other side of a fence. [50] [51] QC Michael Mansfield, barrister for the Duggan family, told the IPCC that witnesses had told him they saw police throw the gun over the fence. [8] The IPCC initially reported that three officers had also witnessed an officer throw the gun, but later retracted this report. [45]
The IPCC had commissioned tests on the pistol by the Forensic Science Service and had received advice that it was an illegal firearm. [38] [52] [53] [54] [55] The gun was wrapped in a sock, a practice allegedly used to avoid leaving evidence if it was used. [56] The IPCC announced on 9 August that there was no evidence that the gun had been fired, that this had not been ruled out and further tests were being conducted. [38] [57] [58]
It was also announced on 18 November 2011 that the IPCC would investigate whether the same gun had been used in an incident six days earlier, on 29 July 2011, when barber Peter Osadebay was assaulted in Hackney by 30-year-old Kevin Hutchinson-Foster after Hutchinson-Foster brandished a gun. [59] On 31 January 2013, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster was found guilty of supplying the gun to Duggan, during which he admitted using the same weapon to beat Osadebay. [60] Duggan's fingerprints were found on a cardboard box, which appeared to have contained the gun when he collected it. The sock, with the gun inside, was found out of this box as much as 20 feet (6.1 m) away from where Duggan was shot. Neither his DNA nor fingerprints were found on the sock which wrapped the gun, nor on the weapon itself. [61] [62] Additional tests found no gunshot residue on Duggan. [62]
News of Duggan's death was publicised quickly. Soon after Duggan was shot, an image was posted on Facebook showing police standing over a body that may have been his. Outrage about the police killing quickly escalated. [9]
There was a long history of tension between black communities and the police before and since the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985, [63] in which, according to David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, the "cracks that already existed between the police and the community became deep fissures". [64] Since 1985 "there had been some progress made in the relationship between the local community and the police", [65] but the shooting "raised tension". [66] Lammy stated that Duggan's death occurred as part of "a history in Tottenham that involves deaths in police custody". [67] Claudia Webbe, the chairperson of Operation Trident, [68] asserted that many black people see Duggan's shooting as "yet another unjust death in custody" [69] and that young black people in Tottenham are "still six, seven, eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts". [70]
Black British novelist Alex Wheatle, who served a term of imprisonment for crimes he committed in the 1981 Brixton riot, [71] asserted that there was "a deep aggravation" that despite many black deaths in police custody there had never been a conviction of a police officer. [72]
In 2017, Tony Hanley, the firearms officer who recommended the bullets used to kill Duggan, had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide by police before fatally shooting himself. Hanley described feeling responsible for Duggan's death, seeing his ghost. [73]
At about 17:30 BST on 6 August 2011, Duggan's relatives and local residents marched from Broadwater Farm to Tottenham Police Station. The demonstrators chanted "we want answers" and requested information from police about the circumstances of Duggan's death. They also made broader demands for "Justice", seeking to publicise ongoing poor relations with police in their community. [9]
A chief inspector spoke with the demonstrators, who demanded to see a higher-ranking officer. About 20:00 BST, a 16-year-old girl approached them and may have thrown a leaflet or a stone. Police swarmed the girl with shields and batons, allegedly causing head injuries. [74] [75] [76] At about 20:20 BST, members of the waiting crowd attacked two nearby police cars, setting them on fire. According to Metropolitan Police Commander Adrian Hanstock, the violence was started by "certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil". [49] Other observers state that the rally began peacefully but was incited by the police attack. [77]
Rioting, arson and looting spread to other parts of London, and to elsewhere in England. [3] [78] Rioters expressed mixed motivations for rioting, including policing issues, poverty, and racial tension with police. [2] [79] [80]
Duggan's family condemned the disorder. His older brother said, "We're not condoning any kind of actions like that at all." [81] While Duggan's shooting was perhaps the trigger for the violence, several other causes of the rioting have been suggested. [82] Former British Prime Minister David Cameron rejected a causal relationship between the death of Duggan and the subsequent looting. [83]
Duggan's death quickly became a major media story. Initially the media including the BBC incorrectly reported that one shot was 'discharged from an illegal firearm inside the car'. [84] The Independent stated on 8 January 2014: "The authorities wrongly said that he had been hit in an exchange of fire". [85]
Some of the media were criticized for portraying Duggan as a gangster, confused by his criminal record being reported as either extensive or non-existent by different outlets. [32] [86] The media was faulted for uncritically reporting the police's story that Duggan had shot first—also shown to be false. [86]
The riots brought international attention to Duggan's death, which one Iranian official described as a "human rights violation". [87]
Duggan's funeral took place at New Testament Church of God in Wood Green on 9 September 2011. The funeral procession was watched by thousands of onlookers. Police maintained a low profile. [88]
The incident was immediately referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), [89] in accordance with standard practice when anyone dies or is seriously injured following police contact. Investigators distributed leaflets appealing for witnesses to come forward. [90] IPCC officers also searched CCTV footage, 999 calls and radio transmissions. [91]
On 12 August 2011 the IPCC announced that in the immediate aftermath of the incident they may have given misleading information to journalists to the effect that shots were exchanged between Duggan and the police. Although a bullet had been found lodged in a police radio, there was no evidence that it had come from the gun in Duggan's possession. [92]
In response to rumours that the killing of Duggan was an "execution", [93] the IPCC announced: "Speculation that Mark Duggan was 'assassinated' in an execution style involving a number of shots to the head are categorically untrue." [94]
Duggan's family stated that they did not trust the IPCC to conduct a fair and independent investigation of the killing and asked for an independent inquiry into the relationship between the Metropolitan Police and the IPCC. They sought to commission an independent second postmortem. [31] Coroner Andrew Walker scheduled an initial hearing for 12 December 2011. [39]
In November 2011, two members of the "community reference group" appointed by the IPCC, resigned from those posts. A third remained in post. One of those who left said "I have been alarmed to learn that not only have the IPCC broken their own guidelines by giving out erroneous information to journalists regarding the 'shoot-out' involving Mark Duggan and police that didn't actually happen. But I have discovered that their investigation … is flawed and in all probability tainted to a degree that means we will never be able to have faith in their final report into the killing." [95]
On 29 February 2012 the IPCC upheld a complaint that the Metropolitan Police had not adequately informed Duggan's family of his death on 4 August 2011. The IPCC's inquiry expressly did not address the events of 6 August 2011 and afterwards. [96] Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan Police had already issued an apology (in August 2011) to the Duggan family for the manner in which police initially communicated with them, [97] suggesting that the IPCC had a responsibility to provide information to Duggan's family. [98]
In late March 2012 the IPCC indicated that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 made it impossible for the organisation to reveal information obtained during its investigation into Duggan's death, making it doubtful if a public coroner's inquest into the killing could ever be held. [99]
In April 2012, the BBC aired footage of the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The footage showed paramedics handling Duggan's body. The IPCC condemned the BBC for showing the footage without first consulting them. [100]
The IPCC was expected to release its report on the killing in summer of 2012. Because no report had been issued by January 2013, a planned inquest into the killing was delayed until September. [101] The IPCC announced in March 2013 that it would issue a report in April, for delivery to the inquest in May. [62] Referring to the officers who killed Duggan, an IPCC spokesperson announced on 2 August 2013 that "We have found no evidence to indicate criminality at this stage." The IPCC said its investigation had substantially ended and that a final report would be issued later in August. [5]
The 11 officers involved initially refused interviews with the IPCC. The officer who killed Duggan, now known as "V53", later submitted testimony in writing. [5]
In December 2019, Forensic Architecture called for the 2011 case to be reopened, claiming that a virtual model of the shooting casts doubt on its findings. [10] Their report was released to the public in June 2020. [102] The IOPC (the successor to the IPCC) said in May 2021 that it would not reopen the investigation because there was nothing in the new reports to suggest that the findings of its investigation were incorrect. [103]
Police stated that "no officer had done wrong" but announced that the person who shot Duggan would not remain on active firearms duty. [104]
The firearms officer involved in the operation known only as V53 provided written statements to the IPCC but refused to be interviewed. [41] [11] David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, was critical of his refusal. [51] [11] The IPCC asked for the power to interview police officers even if they are not suspected of having committed a crime. [105]
In November 2011, the IPCC began an investigation into the "quality of the investigative response" by police to an incident on 29 July 2011, for which police charged Kevin Hutchinson-Foster with possession of a handgun, believing the gun may be the same found at the shooting of Duggan. [59]
On 18 September 2012, Hutchinson-Foster's trial commenced in the Crown Court at Snaresbrook. The defendant was charged with supplying Duggan with the BBM Bruni Model 92 handgun, found near Duggan's car after his death. [106] The defendant denied the charge and gave his explanation for the presence of his DNA on the gun by alleging he had been beaten with the weapon by a gang that included Duggan. [107]
During the trial, prosecutor Edward Brown QC of QEB Hollis Whiteman contended that Duggan travelled to Leyton to collect the gun from Hutchinson-Foster, before driving to Tottenham with it. [106] The police alleged that Duggan had received a gun from Hutchinson-Foster 12–15 minutes before he was shot. [108]
The trial included testimony from seven police officers who were allowed to remain anonymous and use pseudonyms. [109] The Police alleged that Duggan had pulled the gun from his waistband and pointed it at police before they shot him. [110] [111]
According to the evidence given by the cab driver and corroborated by one policeman present at the scene, Duggan got out of the taxi and ran in an attempt to escape. [36] The driver stated, "I saw that Mark Duggan got out and ran. At the same time, I heard firing from the front. I saw shots strike Mark Duggan. He fell to the ground." [36] "Mark Duggan only got 2ft–3ft from my car when he was shot", the taxi driver later testified. [37]
Simon Poole, a pathologist who had performed a post-mortem on Duggan's body, testified in January 2013 at the retrial of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster and asserted that the injuries Duggan sustained in the shooting were not consistent with the account of the incident that was given by the police officer who fired the lethal shot. Questioned by a barrister representing Hutchinson-Foster, Poole said that the police bullet had penetrated Duggan's body on the right side and travelled from right to left. Poole agreed with the barrister's statement: "So the scenario can't be right? The officer fires to his left and the bullet hits Mr Duggan in the chest and it should go from left to right – but it went right to left. Therefore the scenario can't be right?" [112]
Poole also later agreed with the prosecution that if Duggan had turned to face the officer who shot him, his position relative to them would have changed. [112]
A December 2011 IPCC statement had cited Poole for discovering that a second bullet struck Duggan's arm. [47]
On 17 October 2012, the jury failed to reach a verdict. [113] The re-trial date was set for January 2013, [114] and on 31 January 2013 the defendant was convicted of supplying Duggan with the handgun. [115] On 26 February 2013, the defendant was sentenced to eleven years in prison; seven years for supplying the gun, four years for related offences. [116] The Hutchinson-Foster verdict did not resolve a number of central questions related to Duggan's killing, which remained open until the inquest later in 2013. [117]
Following interviews in the Tottenham area, some residents have revealed that they do not trust police or investigators, and say that Duggan was executed by police. [118] [119] A report due in summer of 2012 was announced delayed in October 2012. [120] Duggan's family and members of his community suggested that they did not consider the IPCC impartial and did not believe that its investigation was succeeding. [8]
Frustration with the official investigation mounted in May 2012 when it was announced that the 31 police witnesses would not be required to answer questions—instead submitting written testimony. [34] David Lammy, MP from Tottenham, stated: "It is unacceptable that the police officers have not made themselves available for interview, and it is unacceptable that the IPCC does not have the power to compel them to do so." [121]
Duggan's family did not believe that the police have been honest about the shooting, and have pressured the police and IPCC for greater transparency. [122] [123] Duggan's sister, Paulette Hall, has stated: "We want justice. We want them to come clean and tell us what happened. The police are human like us. If you kill someone, you should do the time, just like we would have to do." Hall has reiterated concerns about media portrayals, and produced her own film titled The Real Story of Mark Duggan. [124]
Duggan's mother, Pamela, has said: "We still don't have justice. I won't give up until I get justice for Mark. People need to be held to account for my son's death. There needs to be a full inquest, in front of a jury of ordinary men and women, to find out the truth." [125] She sought judicial review of the case, requesting oversight of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the IPCC. London's High Court of Justice rejected her application for judicial review on 18 June 2013. [126] [127] [128]
The family have criticized the IPCC for delaying the investigation. Expecting an inquest to begin on 28 January and instead facing indefinite postponement, a barrister for the Duggan family commented: "It is absolutely shocking to find ourselves here today and to hear your counsel saying that there are further investigations, basic investigations, to be conducted such as a reconstruction and forensics." [101]
Stafford Scott, originally appointed as an advisor to Operation Trident, resigned from the investigation because he felt that it was not being conducted fairly. Writing in The Guardian, he stated:
The IPCC has broken its own guidelines by giving out erroneous information to journalists regarding the "shoot-out" involving Duggan and police that didn't actually happen. And its investigation is flawed and in all probability tainted – so much so that we can never have faith in its final report. [45]
Scott blames the police response to the Duggan shooting for the escalation of the 2011 riots. [34] [129] He later criticized authorities for treating the Hutchinson-Foster as a proxy for the Duggan investigation, while continuing to delay the official inquest on Duggan's death. [130] He says that members of Duggan's community feel ignored and lied to by authorities, [129] writing in March 2012: "In August 2011 the word on the streets was that 'they executed Mark'. Seven months later the word is that the police had control of the gun or worse." [119]
After the Hutchinson-Foster trial, Scott criticized the Trident police for inaction, writing: "So it is now clear that the police had a golden opportunity to remove an identified gunman and a firearm off of the streets but somehow managed not to do so. And this is all the more shocking because the police have a special unit, Trident, established specifically to deal with gun crime in the black community." [131]
At a pre-inquest hearing in June 2012, coroner Andrew Walker said it was "quite extraordinary" that the IPCC refused to provide witness statements. He ordered the material to be disclosed within 28 days. Representing the Duggan family, Michael Mansfield QC said the IPCC's position was "utterly unacceptable", and warned them they would be in contempt if they refused the coroner's order. [132]
A public inquest on the killing had been scheduled for 28 January 2013. On 25 January, [133] the inquest was declared indefinitely postponed because the IPCC had not yet released its report. [101] Judge Keith Cutler later announced that the inquest would begin on 16 September 2013. [62] [134] The inquest was expected to last for six to eight weeks. [134]
The government created a website for publicizing materials related to the inquest, and considered live broadcast for some of the proceedings. Testimony from firearms officers was to remain entirely anonymous. [101] Members of the inquest jury may also be kept anonymous. [135]
Inquest hearings began on 16 September 2013. The jury began with a visit to the street in Tottenham where Duggan was killed in 2011. [136]
Police maintained that Duggan was a gang member linked to violent crime. "As well as gun crime, he was involved in supply of class A drugs and possession of ammunition", said Detective Inspector Mick Foote. [137]
Foote denied making the claim that Duggan had fired at police, saying he was "surprised" that early reports of the incident described a "shoot out". [138] The IPCC later conceded it had misled journalists shortly after the shooting by saying that shots were exchanged. [139]
A police officer appearing in support of the IPCC, wrote in a statement that during informal briefings at the scene of death "officers had apparently thrown a firearm found in his [Duggan's] possession over a fence so that it was out of reach and it would no longer pose a threat to them". No other officer confirmed this. [139]
The jury learned that Duggan had been killed by a 9mm parabellum, hollow-point bullet, travelling at 870 mph. [140] This type of bullet is designed to cause instant incapacitation. [141]
Pathologist Derrick Pounder said that police had "simply got it wrong" in their accounts of the shooting. Pounder testified that Duggan was hit first by a non-fatal shot to the arm, then killed by a second shot to his chest. [140] [142]
Lawyers for the Duggan family argued that police had planted the handgun found on the scene. [143] Two witnesses testified that they saw a police officer move something from the minicab to the place where the gun was found, 20 feet away from Duggan's body. [144] One witness ("Miss J") said she saw the officer pick up the gun, adding: "It will never leave me for the simple reason it's not often you see a gun in broad daylight." She said the officer "had an expression like he'd found gold." [145] [146] Miss J was standing 50 metres away from the scene (with a fence in between), [147] and the final IPCC report noted that there were, "many discrepancies between her accounts, which overall lessens the weight that can be attached to her observations, as they render her evidence unreliable and contradictory." [148]
The driver of the minicab testified that he did not see a gun in Duggan's hand, nor did he see one fly through the air. He said Duggan was shot in the back. [149] Another witness said there was "definitely" a phone in Duggan's hand. [150] [151] During the inquest Ian Stern, counsel for the police, suggested that the same witness – the only one to actually see Duggan being shot – had earlier told a journalist that he (Duggan) had been holding a handgun. The witness denied ever making such statements. [152]
"V53", the officer who shot and killed Duggan, testified that Duggan was still holding a gun after both of the shots were fired, saying his eyes were "glued to the gun." Military surgeon Jonathan Clasper testified that it would be difficult to imagine Duggan throwing his gun 20 feet after being hit by the two shots. [153]
Near the end of the hearings, lawyer Leslie Thomas confronted the police officer "V59" with the possibility that a gun had been planted, saying: "I'm going to suggest to you, V59, that you knew where the gun was before the officers had gone round (the fence), because you, and all of your colleagues had planted it there." The officer replied: "I did not plant any gun at any scene. I find that highly offensive." [154] Thomas also accused officer "W70" of inconsistencies and omissions in testimony. [155]
During the inquest, student protesters were heard chanting: "Who killed Mark Duggan? You killed Mark Duggan." [156] On 11 December, students protested outside the Royal Courts of Justice while the inquest was underway. [157]
The jury began deliberations on 10 December 2013, asked to render a verdict of unlawful killing, lawful killing, or open verdict. [158] Subsequently, Cutler told the jury that he would accept a conclusion based on a majority agreement by 8 of the 10 jurors. [159] [160]
The jury interrupted deliberations over Christmas and resumed on 7 January 2014. [160] They delivered their conclusions at approximately 16:00 on 8 January, concluding (by an 8–2 majority) that Duggan's death was a lawful killing. [161]
Following the inquest, a case was brought by Duggan's mother to the High Court seeking judicial review, arguing that the coroner's directions to the jury were legally incorrect. The direction to the jury instructed them to determine whether or not the officer who shot Duggan was acting on an honest belief that Duggan was a threat, not whether his belief was reasonable. The case challenged the legal standard for self-defence as being incompatible with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights which protects the right to life.
In October 2014, the High Court rejected this challenge. Leave was given to appeal the case to the civil division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, but the appellate court also rejected the claims in 2017. [162] [163] [164]
In March 2019, Duggan's family brought a civil claim against the Metropolitan Police. [165] The claim was settled in October 2019. The terms of the settlement were confidential. The Metropolitan Police did not admit liability for Duggan's death. [166]
Henry Bruce Stanley was a Scottish painter and decorator who was shot dead by the Metropolitan Police in London in contentious circumstances. Initially his death was recorded with an open verdict, before being ruled as unlawful killing by a jury on appeal and finally returned to an open verdict by the High Court.
Operation Trident, or simply Trident, is a Metropolitan Police Service unit originally set up in 1998 as an initiative with the police to tackle "black-on-black" gun crime following a series of shootings in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Brent. By 2008 the unit was responsible for investigating all non-fatal shootings for the Metropolitan Police, and in February 2012 the unit's remit was again expanded: the new Trident Gang Crime Command was launched, incorporating responsibility for tackling wider gang crime. In 2013 the unit gave up responsibility for investigating fatal shootings, which was taken over by the Homicide and Serious Crime Command.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.
The Territorial Support Group (TSG) is a Met Operations unit of London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) which specialises in public order policing, amongst other specialist areas. In 2012 it consisted of 793 officers and 29 support staff. The TSG is a uniformed unit of the MPS that replaced the similarly constituted Special Patrol Group in 1987. TSG units patrol the streets of London in marked police vans or "carriers"; using the call sign prefix "Uniform". Generally each carrier has an advanced (police) driver, seven constables and a sergeant. Territorial Support Groups often comprise three carriers, twenty one constables, and three sergeants reporting to an Inspector. They separately patrol designated areas experiencing serious levels of gang violence or disorder. When deployed, it is by the MPS Information Room. Due to the public order nature of their role often numerous carriers will be assigned. TSG officers can be identified as TSG from the distinctive "U" in their shoulder numbers. Some TSG officers are also plainclothes officers, carrying a taser and handcuffs.
The Broadwater Farm riot occurred on the Broadwater council estate in Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985.
Azelle Rodney was a London man who was fatally injured by an armed officer of the Metropolitan Police on 30 April 2005. In July 2013, a public inquiry found that the Specialist Firearms Officer who fired the fatal shots, Anthony Long, had "no lawful justification" for killing Rodney. The case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to determine whether a prosecution should be launched.
Jean Charles da Silva e de Menezes was a Brazilian man killed by officers of the London Metropolitan Police Service 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.
Ian Tomlinson was a newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London 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. Following civil proceedings, the Metropolitan Police Service paid Tomlinson's family an undisclosed sum and acknowledged that Harwood's actions had caused Tomlinson's death.
The Tottenham Mandem were an organised street gang based in Tottenham, North London, that began on the Broadwater Farm estate prior to the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985. One of the early members and later leader Mark Lambie was a suspect in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during that riot. Lambie had been top of Operation Trident's wanted list due to the close links he had built with gangs in Wembley, Harlesden and south London. He was jailed in 2002. During the 90s, TMD was one of the largest gangs in North London and controlled much of the drug markets in the area.
The 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt was a major police operation conducted across Tyne and Wear and Northumberland with the objective of apprehending fugitive Raoul Moat. After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree in July 2010, the 37-year-old ex-prisoner went on the run for nearly a week. The manhunt concluded near the town of Rothbury, Northumberland, when Moat killed himself following a six-hour standoff with armed police officers under the command of Northumbria Police.
The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting and arson, as well as mass deployment of police and the deaths of five people.
In early August 2011, England was struck by riots, the worst in the country in decades. The timeline of the events of the riots spanned from 6–10 August.
The Riots is a play created by Gillian Slovo from spoken evidence, which explains and evaluates the events that took place during the 2011 England riots. The play is written in the style of verbatim theatre using interviews from politicians, police, rioters and victims involved in the riots. The Riots first opened at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn on 22 November 2011, after previewing from 17 November 2011.
Sean Rigg was a 40-year-old black British musician and music producer who had paranoid schizophrenia. He died following a cardiac arrest on 21 August 2008 while in police custody at the entrance to Brixton police station, South London, England. The case became a cause célèbre for civil rights and justice campaigners in the United Kingdom, who called for "improvement and change on a national level" regarding deaths in police custody and the police treatment of suspects with mental health issues.
Anthony Grainger was shot and killed by an armed Greater Manchester Police officer in Culcheth, Cheshire, England, on 3 March 2012. At the time, Grainger was unarmed.
Dr. Victor Olisa QPM is a retired senior police officer who served in the Metropolitan Police in London, England. He served as borough commander in the London Borough of Haringey. Olisa was appointed borough commander in March 2013 in a decision made "at the highest level" of the force during the run-up to the inquest into the death of Mark Duggan who had been shot dead by police in the borough in 2011. Duggan's death led to large-scale civil unrest in Tottenham, north London which, in turn, escalated to large-scale rioting across England.
The Chandler's Ford shooting was the shooting of armed robbers in the town of Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, in southern England, on 13 September 2007. Two men were shot dead by Metropolitan Police officers while they were robbing a cash-in-transit van at gunpoint. The Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad had been tracking a gang of armed robbers from South London who were estimated to have stolen £500,000 from 18 robberies of security vans. The Flying Squad received intelligence that the gang intended to target the HSBC branch in Chandler's Ford and planned to lie in wait and apprehend the suspects as they attempted the robbery.
Olaseni Lewis, a 23-year-old British man, died on 3 September 2010 at Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, United Kingdom, after police subjected him to prolonged physical restraint. Lewis had voluntarily sought care following the onset of acute mental health issues and died from cerebral hypoxia soon after, following actions that involved eleven officers of London's Metropolitan Police. After seven years of campaigning by Lewis' family and two inquiries by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), a second coroners' inquiry was raised.
Mark Saunders was a British barrister who was shot dead by police on 6 May 2008 after a five-hour siege at his home in Markham Square in Chelsea, London. Saunders was a successful divorce lawyer who struggled with depression and alcoholism. He had been behaving erratically and drinking heavily in the hours before the incident. Neighbours called the police after Saunders repeatedly fired a shotgun from a window shortly before 17:00. When armed police officers arrived, Saunders fired at their vehicle and the siege began. More armed officers arrived and took up positions in surrounding buildings and on the street. Saunders fired on two more occasions and the police returned fire, slightly wounding him. Around 20 minutes after the previous round of shooting, just after 21:30, Saunders waved the shotgun out of a window. As he lowered it in the direction of a group of police officers, seven officers fired eleven shots, of which at least five struck him. Police entered his flat minutes later and Saunders was taken to a waiting ambulance where he was pronounced dead.