Police watchdog to meet Mark Duggan family

The police watchdog last night vowed to meet with the family of Mark Duggan, who was shot dead by an officer.

The Rev Nims Obunge speaks to media after a meeting with the Metropolitan Police. Picture: Getty

The announcement came after David Cameron appealed for a calm response to the inquest verdict that Mr Duggan was lawfully killed by a police marksman despite being unarmed.

The Prime Minister said yesterday he hoped people would respect the “proper judicial process” and welcomed the stance taken by Mr Duggan’s aunt Carole, who said she wanted “no more violence”.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) spokeswoman said they would discuss the “next investigative steps, some have been ongoing during the inquest as evidence was coming out and some have been identified as a result of the jury conclusions”.

So far, Mr Duggan’s relatives have declined to meet police to discuss the case. They plan to hold a vigil in Tottenham, north London, at the weekend and there are concerns that the event could spark unrest in a repeat of the riots immediately after he was killed in 2011.

Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police continued efforts to rebuild trust over the controversial killing, which sparked a wave of rioting across England.

Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe met political representatives from London and prominent figures from Tottenham to discuss how the police can improve relationships.

Speaking after meeting Britain’s most senior police officer, the Rev Nims Obunge, who buried Mr Duggan, said: “We had an interesting meeting with the commissioner and he has clearly expressed concern about what would happen in Tottenham.

“We’ve just looked at the best way forward to ensure that the concerns that the family genuinely have about the verdict can be expressed in an effective fashion at the vigil this weekend, and we also want to ensure that policing within our community is done in a healthy fashion. The message from the family is that this vigil is intended to be a very peaceful vigil. It is a vigil in remembrance and respecting the life and death of Mark Duggan.

“His children will be there, and we don’t expect anybody to come to where Mark Duggan’s children are to create unrest or anarchy.”

The 29-year-old’s family reacted furiously on Wednesday as jurors at the Royal Courts of Justice concluded that he was lawfully killed by police.

Mr Duggan, a father of six, was gunned down when police stopped the taxi in which he was travelling in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011. They believed he planned to collect a gun from a man, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, and go on to Broadwater Farm, also Tottenham.

The inquest jury found by a majority verdict that it was most likely Mr Duggan had the gun in the taxi, but threw it on to a grass verge before he was shot. Their findings sparked emotional scenes both in and outside the courts, and yesterday Mr Cameron appealed for calm.

Speaking to BBC London, he said: “These issues raise very strong emotions but I hope people can react calmly and recognise that we have proper judicial processes in this country and they are the ones that must be followed and respected.”

The Duggan family are hoping to apply for a judicial review of the inquest findings. After the conclusion, Carole Duggan cried out: “No justice, no peace” – but she insisted she was not calling for a repeat of the rioting.

On BBC Radio 4’s Today, she said: “No more demonstrations, no more violence. We will have to fight this, go through the struggle, peacefully through the right channels, to get justice for as long as it takes.”

Both Ms Duggan and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg raised questions about the original investigation into the shooting by the IPCC.