Duggan Verdict: 'Unarmed But Lawfully Killed'

Mark Duggan was unarmed when he was shot dead by police but was lawfully killed, an inquest jury has found.

The jury said they believed he had a gun with him in the taxi when police stopped the vehicle, but had thrown it over railings by the time the second, fatal shot was fired.

Screams and shouts of "rubbish" and "he was murdered" were heard inside London's Royal Courts of Justice as the verdict was delivered.

Some supporters of Mr Duggan stormed out of the courtroom, others had to be restrained, and a door was reportedly smashed in.

The 29-year-old was shot dead by armed police in Tottenham in August 2011, sparking rioting in London that eventually spread to other cities.

Carole Duggan, Mr Duggan's aunt, told reporters outside court: "He was executed and we still believe that.

"We are going to fight until we have no breath in our body for justice for Mark, for his children, for all the deaths in custody."

A photo of Mr Duggan's clothing was shown at the inquest

The family's lawyer, Marcia Willis Stewart, said they were "in a state of shock" and called the outcome a "perverse judgement".

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley was barely heard as angry supporters heckled him during a police statement.

Police intelligence in 2011 had suggested Mr Duggan was a gang member involved in gun and drugs crimes.

On the day he was killed, officers believed he had just collected a gun from east London.

However, the jury of seven women and three men also decided that police had not done enough to collect and react to intelligence about those claims.

A firearms officer shot Mr Duggan twice on the streets when he emerged from a minicab that police had performed a 'hard stop' on in Tottenham.

Carole Duggan: 'We are going to fight until we have no breath in our body'

One bullet went through his arm, the other hit his chest and killed him.

At the centre of the inquest was the issue of a handgun, found, said police, 10 to 20 feet from Mr Duggan's body and on the other side of park railings.

In heated exchanges with the Duggan family lawyer, police denied suggestions they had planted the gun.

The weapon was wrapped in a sock.

The handgun was a major point of contention in the inquest

Neither had any trace of Mr Duggan's DNA or fingerprints, but his prints were found on a shoebox police said had been used to carry the gun inside the minicab.The jury

One witness, Witness B, told jurors Mr Duggan was "definitely" holding a phone in his hand when he was killed.

But the police marksman who fired the shots, granted anonymity, told the inquest he had "an honestly held belief" that the suspect had a gun and was about to shoot him.

The inquest was shown a dummy pinpointing where the shots hit Mr Duggan

Mr Duggan's death prompted rioting in Tottenham, north London, which eventually spread to other areas of the capital and beyond.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is still investigating the incident.

In an interim statement in August, it said it had so far found no evidence of criminality by police officers.

But Mr Duggan's family has said it has not been kept fully informed of the investigation's progress and condemned the IPCC for suggesting early on that Mr Duggan, a father-four, had died in "a shoot-out with police".

More follows...

:: Watch live reaction from outside the court on Sky News on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Duggan Verdict: 'Unarmed But Lawfully Killed'

Dengan url

http://usiabelajarudin.blogspot.com/2014/01/duggan-verdict-unarmed-but-lawfully.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Duggan Verdict: 'Unarmed But Lawfully Killed'

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Duggan Verdict: 'Unarmed But Lawfully Killed'

sebagai sumbernya