Deaths in police custody cut deep in the psyche of black Britons

An improvement on feeble IPCC responses to police abuse might help avoid the kind of anger shown in the summer's riots

'What we have seen in the IPCC investigation of Mark Duggan’s shooting is an
enfeebled organisation with weak ineffective leadership.' Photograph: Rex Features

For many in the black community, justice in Britain is colour coded. The inadequacy of the Independent Police Complaints Commission in relation to deaths in custody illustrates this stone cold reality.

Mark Duggan, David Emmanuel (aka Smiley Culture), Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser and Jacob Michael, and the surreal and horrific desecration suffered by the Christopher Adler family, have left many of us reeling in shock and anger.

What we have seen in the IPCC investigation of Duggan's shooting is an enfeebled organisation with weak ineffective leadership. The overwhelming perception within black communities is that the current system of IPCC investigation and coroner inquests is so stacked against us that in effect, it protects the guilty and denies justice to the victims.

Within government, the London mayor's office and the senior ranks of the police, there is little appreciation of the depths of anger these tragic cases generate in our communities. That's because tackling racism and institutional racism are no longer considered policy priorities. The results are that the invaluable lessons learned from the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence have now been discarded as "political correctness gone mad". That fundamental mistake has cost the country dear and I fear will do so again in the future.

What's not understood is that a black death in police custody exposes the perennial faultline in relations between the police and black communities. Duggan was the fourth black man to die in suspicious circumstances this year. Since then more have died. Had political sensitivity and genuine anger relating to these tragic events been better understood then maybe the riots that took place this summer could have been avoided.

Death in custody remains the one issue that can transform police and community relations in an instant, tapping deeply into the psyche of black Britons. Historically the tragic story of black men and women being detained then beaten, abused, treated like animals and dying in mysterious circumstances is an all-too-familiar experience.

It is ingrained in our collective memories. From Jim Crow and lynching in America's old deep south, the brutality of the South African apartheid regime, or the beating of Rodney King – or, in the UK, the cases of Colin Roach, Clinton McCurbin, Cynthia Jarrett and Cherry Groce. Brutaliity backed up by institutionally racist organs of state that conspire to deny black people their right to justice.

Very few police officers have ever been charged, and not a single one convicted of manslaughter or murder. What we experience are the impenetrable barriers of ancient laws, lengthy and complex procedures and enormous costs that make justice an unobtainable dream.

There are some ways to try to end this cycle. One is a full and independent public judicial inquiry into deaths in police custody and the inquest process. This could help draw a line under the past 50 years that have seen family after family broken in their desperate search for the truth.

If the government refuses, then alternatively, given the significance of London, the mayor, Boris Johnson, could announce his own independent judicial inquiry. This will bring the cleansing properties of transparency to an issue mired in controversy and acrimony. For this government, moral argument about access to justice many not be enough. However there is a strong economic argument. The cost of an inquiry is cheaper than the cost of a riot.

We also need urgent parliamentary and legislative reform of the now discredited IPCC. If confidence is to be restored then the IPCC will need more powers, authority and truly independent investigators forensically searching for the truth.

In my view, though, none of this is likely to happen soon, and it is therefore inevitable that we will see more suspicious deaths followed by enfeebled IPCC investigations.

If I am right then we have not seen the last riotous disturbance; for where there is no justice, there can be no peace.

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Radio DJ Rod Lucas axed after appearing on BNP membership list

A male police officer in Merseyside and a radio DJ are the first alleged BNP members to face consequences after the far-Right party's full membership list was leaked online.

TalkSport radio said this morning that it will "no longer use" chat show presenter Rod Lucas, who covered late night shifts for the station earlier this year, after he was listed among more than 12,000 BNP supporters on an internet blog posted on Sunday night. His name and contact details were included alongside his profession: 'media: radio/TV production'.

Meanwhile the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed this lunchtime that it had received an official referral relating to a serving Merseyside officer whose details also appeared on the list. Police are banned from becoming members of the BNP because it would damage race relations.

An IPCC spokesman said: "We received a referral from Merseyside Police at 1pm today. There is likely to be a decision this afternoon on whether the IPCC should be involved in an investigation or whether Merseyside deal with the matter internally."

The spokesman said that the local force had approached them this morning and they would await further proactive moves from other forces, although he said that the IPCC could take independent action if necessary to investigate individuals' conduct.

Peter Fahy, a spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "Membership or promotion of the BNP by any member of the police service, whether police officer or police staff, is prohibited... because such membership would be incompatible with our duty to promote equality under the Race Relations Amendment Act and would damage the confidence of minority communities. While the policy may have been controversial at the time it was enacted, in 2004, it has since been accepted by all staff and staff associations and remains unchallenged thus far."

Lucas, a Sony Award winner who once worked for Radio One, had eulogised on his website how much he had enjoyed working for his "favourite" radio station, but this morning TalkSport bosses were swift to distance themselves from him. A spokesman said: 'We won't be using him again. We had no knowledge of his association with the British National Party.'

The membership list was today removed from the original blog where it was published but remains available on other websites.

Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, initially accused former BNP staff members who have been sacked, telling the Today programme on BBC Radio 4: "We are pretty sure [that we know who leaked it]. We had a problem with a very senior former employee who left last year. He was one of the hardliners I inherited from my predecessor, he didn't like the direction the party was going in, thought it was too moderate, so he broke away taking the list with him."

The BNP won a High Court injunction against a former member in April preventing a membership list being made public. Within a couple of hours, however, the BNP appeared to be backing off from accusing its former employee, and turning its sights on the Labour Party.

"It is looking increasingly likely that this is the work of Labour Party supporters," said Simon Darby, the party spokesman. "If they have not protected their IP [internet service provider address] properly, there will be an electronic trail leading back to the culprit."

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, showed little sympathy over the leak. She told Sky News: "It probably says something about the BNP that people don't want to have it known that they are a member."

Mr Griffin was forced to deny that Mr Darby had intended to threaten violence when he said last night that if the culprit was found, "it will turn out to be one of the most foolish things they have done in their life", and that "I wouldn't be sleeping very well tonight".

Mr Griffin told Today: "There is no threat of violence as is being reported today."

Others whose names, jobs and contact details are posted online were this morning in fear of their jobs, as the names include prison officers, who in 2002 were also explicitly banned by their employers from holding BNP membership. Teachers, doctors and serving members of the Armed Forces are among the members listed, and now face questioning from colleagues and bosses over whether belonging to a party associated with racist views is compatible with the caring ethos and emphasis on equality in their work.

The BNP said in a statement on its website that it had lodged a complaint with Dyfed-Powys Police on the grounds that the "disgraceful act of treachery" breached human rights and data protection law. Mr Griffin admitted that the Human Rights Act was one of the BNP's pet hates, but denied that using it to enforce the privacy of its members was hypocrisy.

"No, we are not in favour of the Human Rights Act, it is a European piece of legislation, but as it is there we will happily use it if we can," he said. "I don't think that European law can be used to defend freedom as the two things are fundamentally at odds, but it's certainly something that can be used to defend privacy."

Mr Griffin said that the BNP had no problem with the professions of its members being known, "but the moment any journalist goes as far as to put someone's name and address in the public domain, when precisely who holds what political opinion is a private matter, then I think that we are moving from legitimate journalism and into a very nasty piece of intimidation on behalf of the Labour Government".

Mr Griffin accused Labour of trying to persecute the BNP. This month Labour MPs began moves in the Commons to enshrine in law the right of trade unions to refuse membership to those who belong to the BNP — a right already upheld in a test case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg involving the train drivers' union Aslef.

Many rank-and-file BNP members have turned on their party leader over the leak, in angry postings on the internet. "If Griffin cannot keep the membership secure he should resign," said a typical posting, on the NorthWestNationalists website. Possible names for who was responsible for leaking the list were being touted.

Several BNP members say they have received threatening messages since their names appeared online. One woman, who did not want to be named, told BBC Radio 5 Live she received a phone call at 11pm last night saying she should be "very careful" as someone could come to her house. John, from Redcar, told the station he had been inundated with abusive and threatening e-mails since the list was published. "They have said they will put them [his details] on as many sites as they can and they won't leave us alone," he said.

But Richard, a Blackpool hotelier, said: "We did have some strange phone calls last night but if you are a member of any party you should not be ashamed of it."

The party has warned its 39 members in Northern Ireland and two in the Irish Republic to take extra care with their personal security, because of the risk of attack from dissident Republicans.

Times Online

BNP to honour ‘martyr’ with rally as Asian neighbour gets eight years for manslaughter

The British National Party has said that it will hold a rally in honour of its first claimed martyr, whose Asian killer was jailed for eight years for manslaughter yesterday.

Keith Brown, a father of eight and friend of the party leader, Nick Griffin, was stabbed to death by his neighbour Habib Khan, a Muslim community leader. A judge said that the dead white man and his skinhead son had both been involved in acts of racial aggression towards the Khan family.

The BNP said that it will hold a rally in Stoke-on-Trent on September 20 to protest about the case and Staffordshire Police’s handling of the long-running neighbours’ dispute. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced that it had cleared the force of any blame.

Officers had dealt with more than 100 complaints in five years from the feuding families.

Khan, 49, had been cleared of murder but was found guilty of manslaughter after a jury heard that he stabbed Mr Brown, 52, with a kitchen knife during a row on the pavement.

Judge Simon Tonking said that although Khan was acting in defence of his own son, his action in stabbing Mr Brown went beyond that which was reasonable. Khan had to be punished with “a significant custodial sentence”.

Julia Barker, the mother of Mr Brown’s children, said: “There has been no justice done. We knew it wasn’t going to get done. They are always crying out this racial abuse. They attacked our family. Mr Khan had a panic button put in, Mr Brown didn’t. Both should have been treated equal. When it was our family, nothing was done. The police let our family down as far as I am concerned. Me and the rest of my children will never be able to forget what happened that day. It is a disgrace. He’s got away with it.”

The far Right has portrayed Mr Brown as the “first nationalist victim of Islamic jihad against Great Britain”. Stoke’s BNP councillors shouldered the coffin at his funeral, which is posted on YouTube.

Michael Coleman, a BNP councillor in Stoke, where the far-right party is now placed second only to Labour in the popular vote, said: “We have a man here who has been murdered in the street. It is an outrageous betrayal of justice. Staffordshire Police . . . go softly with ethnic minorities [unlike] the indigenous population. We won’t put up with being treated like this.”

An IPCC investigation released yesterday cleared the force of any blame. Len Jackson, a commissioner, said: “The evidence suggests that on a number of occasions Staffordshire Police attempted to resolve the issues between Mr Brown and Mr Khan. However, no one could have anticipated that this long-running neighbour dispute would have such a tragic outcome.” The Khans were given a panic button after Mr Brown’s teenage son Ashley beat his middle-aged Asian neighbour unconscious.

The police had attempted mediation between the two families but found Mr Brown “immovable”.

The IPCC discovered that the BNP became involved when one of Mr Brown’s friends suggested that a BNP councillor could help with the neighbours’ dispute. The BNP alleged that police had refused to study a homemade DVD offered to them showing a member of Khan’s family kicking Mr Brown’s knee. However, the IPCC said that the DVD only showed a young Asian man apparently making a kicking motion. Mr Brown is off screen, no contact can be seen and, although there is good audio, no sound comes from Mr Brown.

Minutes of that meeting between police and the BNP describe the DVD as showing an argument about the location of a fence and make no mention of any crime.

The Browns claimed that the police ignored incidents where the Khans poisoned their puppy and cut their brake leads, but no records of such complaints were discovered.

Times Online

GMP cleared of BNP association

Claims that a Greater Manchester police (GMP) officer and another member of staff wore British National party (BNP) badges have been rejected by the police watchdog.

Media reports earlier this year said that the two people had been spotted wearing the badges and associating with BNP supporters at a bar in central Manchester on St George's Day. The Guardian, citing a GMP officer who brought his concerns to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), said that the GMP officer and member of staff had joined in racist chanting and the abuse of other people at the bar on April 23rd 2007.

But following an investigation the IPCC said the two individuals had been "innocently celebrating" St George's Day at Sinclair's Oyster Bar.

Police had been called to attend an incident at the bar to investigate reports of unruly customers.

"It is clear from the interviews and CCTV footage that there was an unsavoury element in the crowd, and this element exhibited racist behaviour by abusing passers-by and singing inflammatory songs," an IPCC statement said.

Naseem Malik, IPCC commissioner for the north-west, added: "Investigators have trawled through hours of CCTV footage and interviewed more than 50 people present on that day.

"As a result of this I can say with some degree of certainty that there is no evidence to support the legitimate concerns expressed in the report made by the officer or the allegation made in the Guardian newspaper. In fact there is sufficient evidence to reach the conclusion that the concerns and allegations were incorrect."

He added: "There is no evidence that off-duty officers or staff were involved with the group of people who prompted police attendance. The investigation identified two friends – one an off-duty police officer and one an off-duty police staff member - who were innocently enjoying a drink together in the pubs and bars around Exchange Square. At no point did they have any association with the unsavoury element in the crowd."

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Inquiry into claim that police joined BNP event

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to investigate allegations that some off-duty officers attended a British National party event to mark St George's Day in Manchester last month.

Supporters of the extreme right-wing party had gathered outside a pub in Manchester city centre and police were called after complaints that they had turned rowdy.

At the time, Chief Superintendent Terry Sweeney, head of the GMP's professional standards branch, said: "There is absolutely no evidence at this time to suggest that any GMP employees took part in the disturbance ... The officer [who submitted the report] did not see any GMP employees involved in the disturbance himself, but has rightly brought to our attention the information he received from other people. We will investigate this thoroughly to establish if any off-duty officers or staff were involved."

Yesterday it emerged that Greater Manchester Police has referred the matter to the IPCC, which is investigating the allegations. Naseem Malik, IPCC commissioner for the north-west, said the incident could "undermine public confidence in the force".

He added: "I have decided that we will manage Greater Manchester police's investigation which means we will be in charge of the direction and control of the investigation. The investigation will focus on establishing firstly whether any off-duty officers or staff members were present and secondly, if they were, whether they were innocent bystanders or associating with the BNP supporters."

The allegations are especially embarrassing for GMP as it was one of the forces whose trainee officers were caught making racist remarks by an undercover television programme. Following revelations in the BBC Secret Policeman documentary, the force vowed to stamp out racism in the ranks.

Earlier this week the force said it had seized CCTV footage and that its detectives will scour it frame by frame for evidence. The force added that any officer found to be a BNP member could be sacked.

The incident happened at 4.30pm on April 23.

Around 120 BNP supporters were reported to be milling around Sinclair's Oyster Bar, and were said to be chanting abuse at passers by. Some were wearing T-shirts saying "Love Britain or fuck off" and shouting BNP slogans. One officer present claims he saw a fellow officer wearing a BNP badge. Bar managers feared trouble and called police to help them clear away the BNP supporters.

Yesterday Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, was barred from speaking at Bath University amid fears the event would bring chaos to the campus.

Guardian