Duggans to give watchdog 'a chance'

Shaun Hall, the brother of Mark Duggan, joins the launch of the Tottenham Defence Campaign

Published: 2:58pm, 5th October 2011
Updated: 3:22pm, 5th October 2011

The brother of a man whose shooting sparked riots across England has called on the police watchdog to deliver "justice" over his death.

Shaun Hall said the family of Mark Duggan are prepared to give the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) a "chance" to show impartiality and independence in its inquiry into his death.

"We were told there were 31 police officers involved in the sting on my brother, I call it an assassination, what had my brother done so wrong to deserve this assassination, please tell me," he told a public meeting in Tottenham, north London.

Mr Hall, who was flanked by Mr Duggan's partner Semone Wilson struggled at times to contain his tears as he described his brother as a "good man" although "no angel".

"We are normal people," he said, adding that they had been "ripped apart" by his death.

He said it is now up to the IPCC to demonstrate to the world that it could come to the "right conclusions".

His remarks came after the IPCC admitted in August that it may have wrongly led journalists to believe that 29-year-old Mr Duggan fired at officers before he was killed.

His death in Tottenham, north London, on August 4 was the trigger for the first of four nights of riots that spread from the capital across England.

Mr Hall was speaking alongside the families of three other people who died after involvement with police officers to mark the launch of the Tottenham Defence Campaign.

The meeting marked the 26th anniversary of the death of Cynthia Jarrett, who died after four police officers burst into her home. The incident, in 1985, led to the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham in which Pc Keith Blakelock was hacked to death by a machete-wielding gang.