The Metropolitan police has apologised to the family of Mark Duggan, whose shooting triggered last summer’s riots, for failing to inform them of his death.
The apology was revealed after the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) upheld a complaint by the family that neither the Met nor the IPCC formally notified them.
Duggan was shot and killed by Metropolitan police officers on 4 August last year in Tottenham, north London.
The IPCC is still conducting a separate investigation into the full circumstances of the shooting. But it also looked into the Duggan family’s complaint that they were not formally notified of his death by either the police or the IPCC.
IPCC commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: “The investigation is complete and has found that Mr Duggan’s parents were not informed of his death by the Metropolitan Police Service [MPS], whose responsibility it was, and I have upheld that complaint.”
The Met’s north area commander, Mak Chishty, said: “We recognise that it was the responsibility of the MPS to keep the family informed immediately following the shooting and up until it was handed over to the IPCC family liaison managers.
“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused by not speaking directly to Mark Duggan’s parents, Pamela Duggan and Bruno Hall.
“I met with the family of Mark Duggan on 2 September 2011, and apologised to them directly on behalf of the MPS for the distress caused by officers not attending personally to inform them of their son’s death.”
Duggan’s family welcomed the fact that the complaint had been upheld, but said they had had to battle hard to get the acknowledgement from the IPCC.
Pam Duggan said: “They let things really drag on. Because of all the confusion and misinformation I kept hoping that my son was still alive. That made things so much worse for all of us.”
The family’s lawyer, Marcia Willis Stewart, said: “There should now be absolute clarity as to who gives the death notice to a family in these circumstances. We hope that other families will not suffer the same pain and anxiety that Mark Duggan’s family suffered, which compounds the trauma and loss.
“This report has forced the IPCC to look at their role in respect of contacting the family. There will now be a protocol in place so that the same situation cannot arise again.”
Stafford Scott, a Tottenham community activist and former member of the reference group set up in the aftermath of the fatal shooting, said: “We welcome today’s report. The findings are a travesty. The police now accept that they didn’t contact and inform the family about the death.
“Had they behaved in a professional manner and carried out their duty it would have been uneccessary for us to go to Tottenham police station on 7 August and the riots could have been avoided.
“The police have clearly tried to hide their responsibility by shifting the blame onto the IPCC. That is what they did when we arrived at the police station on 7 August. I’m alarmed that senior police officers are not aware of their responsibilities.
“We accept the police failings and the IPCC misinformation. All of this is what brought our community onto the streets on 7 August.
Related articles
- PCC: Guardian’s Duggan headline was misleading (newstatesman.com)
- Revealed: Mark Duggan was not armed when shot by police Investigators find no forensic evidence he was carrying gun when killed (ikners.com)
- PCC ruling on the Guardian’s Mark Duggan story – full text (guardian.co.uk)
- PCC rules Guardian’s Mark Duggan headline was misleading (guardian.co.uk)
- IPCC disputes Guardian’s Mark Duggan story (100gf.wordpress.com)
- Mark Duggan ‘Unarmed’ When Shot By Police (news.sky.com)
- Riots: Two Police Probed Over ‘Duggan Gun’ (news.sky.com)
- Man ‘not armed when shot by police’ (mirror.co.uk)
- IPCC rejects claims of no forensic evidence in Mark Duggan case – Metro (metro.co.uk)
- National News: Man ‘not armed when shot by police’ (coventrytelegraph.net)
