Research by INQUEST, an independent organisation specialising in contentious deaths, shows a “culture of impunity” toward police officers, who have avoided being convicted by the Crown Prosecution Service [CPS] for 17 years despite over 700 deaths in custody or following police contact.
The latest case the CPS will decide if it will prosecute, is that of a 26 year-old off duty Merseyside Police officer who was arrested on suspicion of murder when Christopher Shackleton, 42, died in hospital after an incident involving “a number of men” in the Freshfield pub, Formby, in July, allegedly over a spilt pint.
Before this latest incident, INQUEST said previous controversial deaths involving the police have not been treated from the outset as a potential homicide.
INQUEST condemned the CPS over their decision not to prosecute the police officer who hit Ian Tomlinson with a baton and pushed him to the ground at the G20 protest in April last year. The newspaper seller died shortly afterwards.
Deborah Coles, co-director of INQUEST, said: “The eyes of the world will be looking on with incredulity as yet again a police officer is not facing any criminal charges after what is one of the most clear cut and graphic examples of police violence that has led to death.”
The Independent Police Complaints Commission’s [IPCC] slow action to begin an investigation led to the potential for the loss, suppression or distortion of crucial forensic evidence in the “golden hours” after Mr Tomlinson’s death, INQUEST said.
The real cause of death was not confirmed until after three separate post mortems had been conducted. The first, by Dr Freddy Patel, concluded Mr Tomlinson died from “coronary heart disease”.
The IPCC subsequently carried out two independent autopsies and found that Mr Tomlinson died from internal bleeding. The contentious medical findings are a reason to not prosecute because a conviction would be unlikely, said Keir Stammer QC.
Dr Patel faces being struck off by the General Medical Council [GMC] over claims he botched four other autopsies. His actions following the infamous death at the G20 protest were criticised in a document released by the GMC as they made their statement.
The IPCC said of the CPS not prosecuting the police officer: “This was a large and complex investigation into a case of huge public interest. Given the CPS decision today, we will now conclude our final report and pass it to HM Coroner so that preparations can be made for an inquest, where the circumstances of Mr Tomlinson’s death will be publically aired and rightly scrutinised.”
Following that report, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stevenson, said the police officer would face a disciplinary hearing for gross misconduct.
Paul King, Mr Tomlinson’s son, said: “After 16 months of waiting, to hear nothing is being done is a complete joke. The experience has broken our family apart. The DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] has told us there was an unlawful act, yet no charges are to be brought.”
The CPS offers guidelines to how it reaches its decision whether to prosecute or not: “When deciding whether there is enough evidence to prosecute, Prosecutors must consider whether the evidence can be used in court and whether it is reliable. This means that they must assess the quality of the evidence from all witnesses before reaching a decision.
"If there is not a realistic prospect of conviction, the case must not go ahead, no matter how serious or sensitive it may be. If there is a realistic prospect of conviction, the Prosecutor will ask the next question: is a prosecution required in the public interest?"
The anger over the legal inaction is a disturbing reminder of the death of Jean Charles de Menezes who was shot eight times by police officers after being chased into Stockwell Tube station, London, in July 2005.
Police officers had been watching the flat where Mr de Menezes lived, believing one of the failed Tube suicide bombers from the day before was living.
Unknown to the officers, the flats had a communal entrance so when Mr de Menezes emerged officers were not sure whether he was the target.
Mr de Menezes, a 27 year old electrician from Brazil, was chased. He is thought to have ran at the sight of heavily armed officers because of an out of date visa. Inside carriage 53613 he was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder.
No officer has admitted culpability to the failings of police intelligence discussed at the inquest into the death, including the controversial “shoot to kill” policy, nor has any prosecution been sought. Mr de Menezes’s family condemned the CPS decision.
Speaking in 2005, Mr de Menezes’ cousin, Alex Pereira, said the police would “kill a thousand people” if they were not held accountable for the death of Jean Charles.
Mr de Menezes family are campaigning for justice and the high profile nature of the perceived injustice is like that of Blair Peach, who was killed at a protest against the National Front in London in 1979. The New Zealander was killed by a blow to the head, thought to have been administered by a serving police officer. A previously secret report attached “grave suspicion” to the officer, but in April this year Metropolitan Police said no officers would face further action.
The deaths and the figures collated by INQUEST from 1993 to 2010 paint a damning picture. Including the category’s pursuit, road traffic accident and shooting, as well as in custody or other contact, the number of deaths is over 1100. Yet no conviction has ever been made, with trials collapsing, trials not being started due to lack of evidence or acquittals and prosecutions not being sought.
In 2002 a conference held at Church House, Westminster, by the Police Complaints Authority [PCA] recommended ways to decrease deaths in police custody or following police contact. In a speech Chris Mullin, then MP and chair of the Home Affairs committee, said the Safer Restraint report wades through “difficult territory” as often police officers are acting in conditions that are extreme and volatile to restrain and prevent harm to the detainee or another.
While being restrained the following people died from asphyxiation:
· In 1993, Joy Gardner was restrained by police and immigration officers, handcuffed, placed in a body belt and gagged with tape.
· In 1994, Richard O’Brien was restrained face down with his hands cuffed behind his back.
· In 1996, Ibrahima Sey was handcuffed, sprayed with CS gas and restrained in the prone position by more than a dozen officers.
· In 1995, in a secure mental health unit, Rocky Bennett was restrained face down in the prone position for up to half an hour at a time by five or six nurses.
· In 1997, Glenn Howard was held in a reverse bear hug for up to four minutes, face down with an officer across his legs. Mr Howard asphyxiated after inhaling vomit and fell into a coma.
The PCA empathised with the police, stating: ‘Events [of restraint] are spontaneous, the dynamics unknown and officers usually have very little time to assess a situation and plan a response. Moreover, officers may have conflicting priorities: at the same time they have a duty of care toward the individual, they are also required to protect the public and themselves from harm.’
Safer Restraint instructs "from a legal standpoint officers' use of force should be reasonable, necessary and proportionate and that each individual is accountable for his or her actions".
One year after the PCA met, INQUEST, found the amount of deaths in custody or following contact had risen to the second highest, 62, since 1993. Following years have seen a slow decrease in these deaths.
The statistics for England and Wales for 2008/09 deaths during or following police contact, gathered by the IPCC, state that of the 15 deaths in custody, 12 died in hospital after being taken ill, one committed suicide in a cell, one after escaping from custody and one died in custody from “minor head injuries and in an intoxicated state”.
Following police contact, 34 deaths occurred. Ten were apparent suicides. Nine deaths were alleged murders “where concerns were raised about the police response prior to the death”. Six people died after police had been contacted with concerns about behaviour or welfare, including “one young person under the influence of alcohol who died after officers allegedly took no action after speaking to him in the street”. Three people died accidentally or by suicide, three from road traffic accident and one shot himself during a siege.
The remaining two deaths, the IPCC claim, do not fit the statistical criteria and the reason for them being included in this category as ambiguous as the legal decisions to prosecute over these incidents: “Two individuals allegedly stopped breathing while being restrained. They were not under police arrest or in detention at the time of the incident and these cases; therefore do not fall into the category of deaths in or following police custody.”
The swift action of Merseyside Police to arrest an officer for suspicion of murder, in comparison with the indecision and stalling surrounding Ian Tomlinson or Jean Charles de Menezes’ deaths – by on duty officers, who were filmed extensively in the moments before, during and after both deaths - suggests the police uniform is acting as an invincibility cloak for actions proved unlawful, yet for reasons that conflict with the legal process, the CPS claim, are not prosecutable.
A moral dilemma that for decades has been wrapped in legal red tape.
