Lawful Killing

Many people have announced themselves "perplexed" and "baffled" by the decision of the inquest on the death of Mark Duggan which ruled that, despite not having a weapon on him, he was nevertheless "lawfully" killed. This confusion results from a mistaken belief that British law has any connection to commonly held ideas of justice. It is clear that, should a policeman believe, or claim to believe, that there is a threat to life, he or she is perfectly entitled to shoot you dead. This situation is made infinitely worse by the corporate culture of the Metropolitan Police where, after anyone is killed by a policeman, the whole force, from the top down, move to completely protect the officer concerned. This corporate culture gives confidence to trigger-happy firearms officers who know that they will receive the maximum support, irrespective of the wisdom of their actions. The expression "trigger-happy" seems particularly appropriate in the case of Mark Duggan as the officer known only as V53 not only shot Mark Duggan, but also shot his own colleague, who was only saved from serious injury because the bullet hit is radio.

This situation is made worse by the fact that responsibility for investigating such incidents lies with the notoriously incompetent and long-winded IPCC. A parliamentary inquiry set up in the wake of the death of Ian Tomlinson concluded in January 2013 that, "It has neither the powers nor the resources that it needs to get to the truth when the integrity of the police is in doubt".

Let us also recall, amongst others, Harry Stanley, shot while carrying a chair leg through Hackney, James Ashley, shot while naked in his own home by Sussex Police and, Jean Charles de Menezes, who received 7 bullets in his head in a case of mistaken identity. Cressida Dick who masterminded the operation in which Jean Charles de Menezes was killed has subsequently been promoted to Assistant Commissioner. The Economist noted that "no policeman has ever been convicted of murder or manslaughter for a death following police contact, though there have been more than 400 such deaths in the past ten years alone".

We may be shocked by the result of the inquest into the killing of Mark Duggan, we should not be surprised.

The Police are everywhere, Justice is much harder to find.