The Independent Police Complaints Commission has cleared armed police officers of any wrongdoing over the killing of Mark Duggan over 3 years ago, following an inquest verdict of lawful killing a year ago. However the police officer who fired the fatal shots refused to be interviewed by the IPCC; why could he not be compelled to answer questions? A week ago it was decided that no further action would be taken after the child sex abuse victims in Rochdale were repeatedly let down by police officers, one of whom retired to escape prosecution; why is retirement allowed to preempt prosecution? Continue reading
Tagged with Mark Duggan
Duggan decision is bad for everyone: new system needed to deal with police violence
This is a sad, bad day for British justice. It seems impossible to combine the view of 8 out of the 10 members of the jury in the Duggan inquest, on the one hand, that he did not have a gun in his hand when he was shot with the decision reached by 8 out of the 10, on the other hand, that it was a ‘lawful killing’ by the police. Moreover there remain far too many unanswered but deeply troubling questions, as Mark Duggan’s mother has herself made clear: Continue reading
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Mark Duggan: now there’s no doubt the police are above the law
Trials or inquests by jury are the most democratic means of bringing a legal process to a conclusion. Recruited from the electoral roll, jurors provide an important corrective to magistrates and judges, who might be hardened by the number of cases that come before them and/or be out of touch with the pace of modern life.
Juries aren’t perfect by any means. In their turn they are open to manipulation of evidence by skilled barristers, can be bamboozled by expert testimony, and are subject to judicial direction. They can also reach “perverse” conclusions by ignoring the instructions of the judge or the provisions of the law, resorting instead to common sense or the dominant logics that emerge through their process of deliberation. Continue reading
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Rioting reflects long-held grievances of dispossessed black youths ignored
The rioting, destruction and violence cannot be excused, but it still needs to be explained. It was initially triggered by the police killing of Mark Duggan in Tottenham on Thursday night, though there are disputed accounts of the circumstances, and made worse by the delayed and inadequate response of the police to the family – this in an area which has seen three deaths in police custody in recent years (Cynthia Jarrett, Joy Gardner and Roger Sylvester). But policing in London has improved in training and leadership since the Brixton riots of 1981 since Scarman’s denunciation of its aggressive, high-handed and racist approach. The underlying causes this time go wider and deeper, and certainly reflect the underlying resentment and anger already expressed in gang killings in London and a sense of hopelessness about making out in a white man’s world. Continue reading