Duggan family to lead public inquiry into UK policing

Relatives of Mark Duggan, a British man killed by police in 2011, demand a public inquiry into policing in the UK.

Relatives who have lost their family members at the hands of police are joining the Duggan family in their plea to begin a public inquiry into policing in Britain.

Mark Duggan was shot dead by British police in August 2011 in his home town of Tottenham when 11 armed officers stopped a minicab he was in on suspicion of possessing an illegal firearm. Evidence suggests there was no weapon found on Duggan, but a handgun hidden in a sock was discovered four meters away from his body. 

A three and a half year long Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation stripped the police officers of any wrongdoing and accused Duggan, 29 of throwing away the weapon when he was shot.

The IPCC report released in March, urged instant improvements in accountability of undercover firearms operations and said the lack of video and audio material “made it difficult, and on occasions impossible, to know with absolute certainty what had happened”.

Carole Duggan, the aunt and spokesperson of the family said: “A public inquiry is the only way to find out whether or not senior officers from Operation Trident have been colluding with armors, that they provide protection to, to put guns on to the streets of London, so that they could then arrest those receiving the weapons.”

Courtenay Griffiths QC outlined six main points to be assessed in the inquiry: the use of undercover officers; the use and protection of informants; the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to allow for surveillance; deaths in custody; the use of lethal force by police; and the supervision of police operations that might affect minority communities.

He said: “For the first time in my historical memory we have a Tory home secretary in Theresa May who is not afraid to take on the police and in particular the Police Federation.

“It seems to me the timing is right for us to seize the opportunity to demand from Theresa May a judicial inquiry into the police.”

Stafford Scott, a community activist in Tottenham, said of the tactics of Trident: “They allow sharks to have guns in our community, and when the sharks pass the guns to the sprats, they arrest the sprats and lock them up. But unfortunately in the case of Mark Duggan, they didn’t lock him up. They executed him on the streets of Tottenham.”

The death of Mark Duggan gained international attention and led to the ignition of the UK nationwide riots of summer 2011. 

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