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Police apologise to Mark Duggan's family for not telling them of his death
Police apologise to Mark Duggan's family for not telling them of his death
(about 4 hours later)
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.
Fresh failings over the police shooting of Mark Duggan, whose death triggered the worst riots in modern British history, were officially admitted on Wednesday when both police and investigators apologised for failing to officially tell his family that he had died.
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.
The errors meant that Duggan's family only found out definitively that he was dead from television news reports a day after he was shot in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011.
Duggan was shot and killed by Metropolitan police officers on 4 August last year in Tottenham, north London.
The Metropolitan police force repeated an apology originally made in August, and was joined in saying sorry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
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.
For the IPCC it is the second error it has admitted over its handling of events after the shooting, which saw riots first in Tottenham, then across London and England.
The 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."
Duggan's mother, Pam, 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 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.
Upholding the family's complaint, the IPCC commissioner, Rachel Cerfontyne, said: "This is a very sad case where a grieving family, suffering from shock, felt let down and badly treated by the police and IPCC. The Metropolitan police service has apologised to the family and I have told the family how sorry I am that the IPCC did not provide more support or visit them the day after Mark Duggan's death."
"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."
Cerfontyne also apologised for the way the IPCC dealt with the family.
The Met and the IPCC were criticised in the wake of the shooting over their contact with the Duggan family. The family lodged a formal complaint in September.
Cerfontyne said a police family liaison officer had spoken to two members of Duggan's family at the scene and on the night of the shooting.
Cerfontyne said a police family liaison officer had spoken to two members of Duggan's family at the scene and on the night of the shooting.
The officer told the IPCC that he had confirmed to them with "99% certainty" that the man who had been shot by police was Duggan.
The officer told the IPCC that he had told them with "99% certainty" that the dead man was Duggan.
The officer said the family members had asked the police not to go to the Duggan family home to formally notify his parents because it would be too much of a shock for them and said that they would do it themselves.
He said the family members had asked the police not to go to the Duggan family home to formally notify his parents because it would be too much of a shock for them and had said they would do it themselves.
But Cerfontyne said the two family members, who had introduced themselves as his sister and his partner, "are categorical that neither of them told the family liaison officers that the police should not visit Mr Duggan's parents to tell them the news of his death, nor did they say that they would inform his parents themselves.
But Cerfontyne said the two family members, who had introduced themselves as Duggan's sister and his partner, "are categorical that neither of them told the family liaison officers that the police should not visit Mr Duggan's parents to tell them the news of his death, nor did they say that they would inform his parents themselves".
"Indeed, both have said that they left the scene uncertain that the dead man was Mark Duggan, so in their view, they would not have been in a position to deliver such news to his parents."
In its full report, the IPCC dismisses claims from the Met, made in August as it tried to reclaim the streets from rioters, that it and also the IPCC both bore the responsibility to inform the family of the death. "The IPCC does not have the resources to inform next of kin of the death of a family member in a timely fashion. In the seven years of its existence there have only been two occasions where the circumstances allowed for a decision to be made about IPCC family liaison managers becoming involved in telling a family about the death of a family member."
The IPCC took over family liaison on Friday 5 August and was told by the MPS that Duggan's parents did not want direct contact.
Any police shooting must by law be investigated by the IPCC.
Cerfontyne said: "In the aftermath of Mr Duggan's death, his family were very confused and wanted to know what had happened to him.
For the Met, 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.
"They did not understand the role of the IPCC, nor that the organisation was separate from the police.
"We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused by not speaking directly to Mark Duggan's parents, Pamela Duggan and Bruno Hall."
"It would have greatly assisted them if a senior representative of the IPCC had visited the family home to introduce the organisation and explain its role.
Tottenham activist Stafford Scott, who resigned from a community panel set up to advise the IPCC, said blunders made after the shooting had triggered the worst riots in modern British history, which could have been avoided.
"With the benefit of hindsight, the IPCC should have explored the family's wishes in more depth following the handover from the police family liaison officers, and not made the assumption that any wishes that may have been expressed by the family in relation to the police would automatically extend to the IPCC.
Immediately after the shooting the IPCC said Duggan had fired at police, which turned out to be untrue.
"Mark's mother told us that she was receiving conflicting messages from various people in the community and the lack of formal notification allowed her to hope that the worst had not happened.
Rioting broke out in Tottenham on Saturday August 6 after the family had gone to the local police station for answers. It spread the next day across the capital, and by the Monday to areas outside the capital and most of London's 32 boroughs.
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.
Scott said: "The failure to tell the family is why we went to the police station. The misinformation about the shoot-out is why we went there angry. That led to all the disturbances, and it is the community that suffered."
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."
An IPCC report into the shooting itself is still awaited.
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.
A committee of MPs will investigate the IPCC's conduct. Labour MP Keith Vaz, the chair of the home affairs select committee, said: "Families deserve accurate up-to-date information when incidents such as this occur. The home affairs committee in its report into the August riots called for better communication between the police and the IPCC when dealing with families. We will be exploring this further when we hold our inquiry into the work of the IPCC later this year".
"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."
Tottenham MP David Lammy said: "There were serious errors of judgment by both the IPCC and the Met in the days following Mark Duggan's death.
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.
"It is any family's worst nightmare to get a knock on the door telling them that their son or daughter has died. Mark Duggan's parents weren't even afforded that courtesy."
"Had they behaved in a professional manner and carried out their duty it would have been unnecessary 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 on to 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 on to the streets on 7 August.
The Tottenham MP David Lammy said: "There were serious errors of judgment by both the IPCC and the Met in the days following Mark Duggan's death.
"It is any family's worst nightmare to get a knock on the door telling them that their son or daughter has died. Mark Duggan's parents weren't even afforded that courtesy.
"The IPCC have suffered from a significant credibility gap in Tottenham. They have accepted that they made mistakes – very serious mistakes, given the riots that followed. Now we need to see some significant reforms of the IPCC to make sure this never happens again."
