Tottenham: police shooting followed by riots

[Jan Klimkowski]

Some highly concerning claims made here, such as the gun allegedly found in Mark Duggan's sock not having his fingerprints on it, and the allegation that the taxi in which he was travelling was moved from the crime scene and then returned later:

Mark Duggan family accuse police of operating a 'shoot to kill' policy

Relatives of Tottenham man whose death during arrest sparked riots say questions remain over circumstances of fatal shooting

Diane Taylor guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 7 September 2011 16.55 BST

The family of Mark Duggan, the Tottenham man whose fatal shooting by police last month sparked five days of widespread riot and disorder, believe officers were operating a "shoot to kill" policy.

Duggan's brother, Shaun Hall, 42, said ahead of Duggan's funeral on Friday: "The police were clearly operating a shoot to kill policy that day. They are supposed to disable not kill suspects. If they hadn't shot and killed Mark there would have been no riots."

The family, in exclusive interviews with the Guardian, said they had been told that the bullet fired at Duggan's chest after officers intercepted the taxi he was travelling in, would have killed him in seven to 12 seconds, giving him no prospect of surviving.

They are devastated by his loss and distraught at the misinformation initially put out that the incident in Ferry Lane in Tottenham, north London, was a "shootout". The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the killing on 4 August, confirmed the two shots that were fired were from a CO19 firearms officer.

The family say they have been told there was no forensic evidence of Duggan's fingerprints on the non-police issue gun recovered at the scene of the shooting, and that they have many unanswered questions. The Guardian has established from sources outside the family that the gun was found inside a sock.

The family are also puzzled by reports that the taxi Duggan was travelling in when he was shot was initially moved from the crime scene and then returned.

"It's as though the police have messed with the whole case," claimed Hall. "Why did the police shoot to kill, why was the taxi moved from the crime scene, why were Mark's fingerprints not on the gun? We don't know whether or not that gun was planted."

Scotland Yard has repeatedly refused to comment on any aspect of the operation to arrest Duggan, saying the inquiry is the subject of an IPCC inquiry.

The family are distraught that they read about Duggan's death in the media before they received formal notification from the police about it.

The Met's new north area commander, Mak Chishty, went to Duggan's parents' Tottenham home on Friday evening last week to apologise for the police's failure to inform them more promptly about Duggan's death.

This was the family's first formal communication with a senior police officer.

"I rushed down to Ferry Lane after the shooting," said Duggan's girlfriend Semone Wilson, 29. The couple had been together since they were 15. She had heard rumours that he had been shot. "I was asked to come through the police tape and to give a description of Mark. They told me that the man who had been shot had tattoos and I was asked to describe Mark's tattoos."

However, the police did not confirm Duggan's identity to Wilson at the scene.

A Met police spokesman said Met family liaison officers met two members of the family on the night of the incident and that they agreed with them that the family members should inform the parents of Duggan's death. The spokesman said Commander Chisty had visited the family after hearing of their concerns and had "apologised for how this was managed".

It was on Saturday 6 August that his family went to formally identify Duggan's body at a Tottenham mortuary in the presence of the IPCC and were able to confirm that the man shot dead was indeed Duggan.

Later that day, his family and friends organised a peaceful march to Tottenham police station from the Broadwater Farm estate to protest about the shooting and their belief that police had failed to provide information.

"I went into the police station with my mum and told the officers on the front desk that I had come to report a murder," said Wilson. "They asked me whose murder I was reporting. When I told them it was Mark Duggan's murder they said to me, 'Don't worry, it's being sorted out,' and they told us to go and wait outside so that they could deal with other people who were reporting crimes."

They waited for four hours, being told repeatedly by police that someone would come out to speak them. No one did, so the family went home.

"Things were peaceful when we left," said Wilson. "When I saw the pictures of the rioting and looting on TV later in the evening I didn't realise at first that it followed on from our protest."

The family have repeatedly distanced themselves from the violent disorder of that night and in the following days after the peaceful protest at the police station. The family said they support the Guardian and London School of Economics research study into the causes and consequences of the riots, announced on Monday.

Mark's mother, Pam Duggan, 53, said her son would have been opposed to the disorder that spread to cities across England. "Mark wouldn't have condoned it and we don't condone it," she said.

"You killed my son in cold blood," she said of the police's actions. "I just want the police to admit that they killed my son. Why didn't the police shoot him in the foot instead of in the chest? I'm on Valium because of what happened. All of this has made me feel as if I want to go and lie down with my son. One of my other sons, Marlon, was stopped in a car a few days after Mark was killed and questioned by police. He went out in a taxi at the weekend and I was terrified that he was going to be shot dead too."

The family is also deeply upset by the media reports that Duggan was a gangster. They have admitted that Duggan was known to the police and had spent time on remand but emphasise that he had no criminal convictions. "If Mark had been a gangster he would have lots of money, which he didn't have," said Pam Duggan. "He would have been out all the time with lots of others but he wasn't. He was a loving boy with a good heart. He loved his children, he loved everybody. People from the whole community will be attending Mark's funeral and people will see who knew and loved Mark. Mark was the kind of person who would say if he saw someone fighting, 'Don't bother with that.'

"I lived on the Broadwater Farm estate for 26 years and I think that the police have got worse since the riots there in 1985. They're really picking on people. Mark had been harassed by the police for years."

Wilson said her three children with Duggan had have been left devastated by the loss of their father.

"They were on holiday for a week with other family members when Mark was killed so we managed to keep the news from them for a week. But when I finally did break the news to them, the youngest one immediately vomited. The other day I was in the street with my 10-year-old son and saw a white man being stopped and searched by police.

"My son asked me, 'Are they going to shoot him now?' I just tried to change the subject because I didn't want him to start asking lots of questions about Mark's death."

Hall said the family were determined to get justice.

"Justice for me is someone being punished for what they've done. The person who killed Mark needs to take the blame for it. Someone needs to be made accountable for what happened. We've heard everyone talking about gangs but the police are the biggest gang of all, an institutionalised gang. And like any other shooter in any other gang the person who killed Mark should be punished. Someone needs to be made accountable for this and we're not going to stop until we get justice."

The family are appealing for anyone who witnessed the shooting to contact Birnberg Pierce solicitors in confidence on 020 7911 0166.