Lawyer for family of man whose shooting sparked August riots says there has been 'conflicting information' in investigation
The family of the man whose shooting dead by police triggered the summer riots have lost confidence in the official investigation into his death, a court has heard. Mark Duggan died after a Metropolitan police marksman shot him twice in Tottenham, north London, in August. The case is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
A pre-inquest hearing heard that Duggan's family are critical of the IPCC's handling of the case.
Michael Mansfield QC said: "The problem for the family is a complete breakdown in confidence for this investigation.
"While normally this question might not have to be asked because confidence is automatic, on this occasion, from the beginning, there has been misinformation, a lack of information, and conflicting information."
Colin Sparrow, lead investigator on the case for the IPCC, said his organisation had made a mistake when it initially said Duggan had fired at the police, when in fact tests showed he had not. The hearing, at north London coroner's court, was told a gun believed to have been collected by Duggan earlier in the day was found 14 feet away from his body, on the other side of a fence.
Mansfield said witnesses claimed they had seen a police officer throw the weapon there. He asked Sparrow: "How on earth did the gun get over a fence 14ft away? Was it thrown there by a police officer?"
Sparrow said: "That's a suggestion, yes."
Mansfield said that neither Duggan's blood, DNA or fingerprints were found on the gun.
He asked Sparrow if there was "any conceivable reason" why Duggan's family could not have been shown the witness statements that claimed this, to which he answered: "I'll give it my consideration."
Mansfield accused the IPCC of being obstructive, but Sparrow answered that the police watchdog did not feel it was appropriate to give Duggan's family this information while the inquiry is still ongoing.
Mansfield said that two types of blood had been found on the gun, but neither belonged to Duggan.
He claimed that the scene of the shooting had not been secured, and that items within it, such as the minicab that Duggan had been a passenger in, had been moved. Last month the IPCC said the cab Duggan had been travelling in was moved from the scene the day after he was shot. Others claim it was moved hours after he was killed.
Mansfield said: "What the family want to know in relation to all these items is, where were they originally in order to assess how Mark Duggan met his death."
The QC also asked Sparrow about a bullet being found in a plastic bag inside the minicab and referred to earlier reports that the gun had been wrapped in a sock and inside a shoe box, but Sparrow told him: "I will not comment on that."
In a statement released later, the IPCC said that it would interview the firearms officers who were at the scene of the shooting. A spokesperson said they would be interviewed as witnesses and their testimony would be tape recorded.
The IPCC said its investigation would be finished by April 2012, later than the six-month deadline it had set itself.
Shaun Hall, Duggan's brother, said: "The fact that we are still not party to certain information that should have been released by now just compounds our grief. What's happened up to now isn't good enough."
David Lammy, MP for Tottenham, said he had asked home secretary Theresa May to review the IPCC's handling of the case, saying: "It's hugely important that the trust and respect they command with the family is upheld, not just on behalf of the family but on behalf of all the people of Tottenham and the many, many people concerned about the circumstances of this case."
The full inquest is expected to be held in September 2012.