Tributes and tears for man whose death left England in flames

Hundreds of grieving friends and relatives have come together to bid farewell to Mark Duggan, the police shooting victim whose death triggered riots and looting across England.

Emotional scenes played out as mourners united for Mr Duggan’s send-off amid simmering tensions sparked by his killing last month.

Leading the tributes to the father of four, his partner, Semone Wilson, said her “first real love” was now “smiling down on us”.

Mr Duggan’s death in Tottenham, north London, on 4 August, preceded four nights of violence and looting that spread to other English cities.

His funeral pastor, Nims Obunge, yesterday called for an end to the underlying disquiet. He told the congregation: “It took the death of Mark to show that there’s something wrong.”

Earlier, Mr Duggan’s body was taken through the Broadwater Farm estate in a white carriage drawn by four white horses. It was adorned with flowers and emblazoned with the words “grandson”, “son” and “dad”.

His brothers, Marlon Duggan and Shaun Hall, led the procession up to Wood Green’s New Testament Church of God for the private ceremony. Grieving friends, relatives and well-wishers had arrived to pay their respects as the sounds of Amazing Grace rang out. Many gathered on the street outside where a speaker system had been set up for those who could not squeeze into the packed church.

Miss Wilson, in a tribute read out by her sister, Michelle Palmer-Scott, said: “Mark, my love, my friend and father of my children, my first real love – we laughed together, we cried together, we faced trials and tribulations together. We had our ups and we had our downs but through it all, I loved him.”

Mr Obunge was applauded as he spoke of tensions within the community. “We have seen too much blood now,” he said. “Let mothers not have to come and bury their children. Let fathers not have to come and weep for their children the way we weep today. We have been hurt, we have been scarred, we have been maligned, we have been stigmatised, we have been called names.Today, we stand as one community, but we say, ‘Not any more – it shall stop’.”

He added: “For so long we have said there is something wrong, for so long we have ached about what is wrong and it took the death of Mark to show that there’s something wrong.”

Earlier, Bishop Barrington Burrell said “grave questions” had been raised by Mr Duggan’s death, but he condemned the riots saying: “This kind of negative reaction is unjustifiable.” He said: “On the one hand, the police respectively need to change their attitude towards the black community, and the black community also needs to change their attitude in response to the police. In either case, the value of human life needs to be paramount.”

Mr Duggan was a passenger in a minicab which was apparently stopped by officers near Tottenham Hale Tube station before he was fatally shot.

A non-police issue handgun, converted from a blank-firing pistol to one that shoots live rounds, was recovered close to the scene. Initial reports that Mr Duggan had fired at police were disproved by ballistic tests.