Allegedly ‘lived by the gun’ – Lawfully ‘died by the gun’

Mark Duggan was a 29-year-old man hailing from Tottenham, North London. He was shot dead by armed police in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, at 18:15 BST on 4 August 2011.

Mark Duggan was a 29-year-old man hailing from Tottenham, North London.   He was shot dead by armed police in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, at 18:15 BST on 4 August 2011.  He had been travelling in a minicab when he was stopped by the armed unit as part an intelligence-led operation against a gang called ‘Tottenham Man Dem.’ He got out of the vehicle and one officer shot him twice.

The jury of seven women and three men have been hearing evidence from over 100 witnesses since September 2013, of what happened during the operation and the circumstances leading up to Mr Duggan’s death.

Before the jurors retired for what was seven days of deliberation, Judge Keith Cutler told them to reach their decisions “on the evidence and the evidence alone”.

Jurors concluded Mr Duggan did not have a gun when he was shot by officers who surrounded a minicab he was travelling in, despite detailed evidence from Police Officer’s describing the hand gun.

The weapon was found about 20ft (6m) away from
the scene.

The panel found :

• In the period between midday on 3 August 2011 and when state ‘amber’ was called at 6.00 pm on 4 August 2011, did the Metropolitan Police Service and the Serious Organised Crime Agency do the best they realistically could have done to gather and react to intelligence about the possibility of Mr Duggan collecting a gun from Mr Hutchinson-Foster?
  The jury said a unanimous no.
• Was the stop conducted in a location and in a way which minimised, to the greatest extent possible, recourse to lethal force?
  Unanimous yes.
• Did Mr Duggan have the gun with him in the taxi immediately before the stop?
  Unanimous yes.
• How did the gun get to the grass area where it was later found?
  A majority of 9 to 1 said it was thrown.
• When Mr Duggan received a fatal shot, did he have the gun in his hand?
  A majority of 8 to 2 said no, he did not have a gun in his hand.

The Duggan’s family lawyer Marcia Willis Stewart said “We can’t believe this was the outcome. He had no gun in his hand, yet he was shot, he was murdered.  “To us, that is unlawful killing.”

In a statement later, Ms Stewart said: “The jury has found that Mark Duggan was unarmed at the point at which he was shot.

“We cannot countenance a situation in which an unarmed citizen is shot on sight.

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe outside the Royal Court’s of Justice on Wednesday said “I hope that everybody’s able to accept the verdict of the jury” but admitted the force must “do more to build trust” and suggested their wearing video cameras to record this type of incident.

Only the resuscitation of Mark Duggan was recorded.

The family now await the IPCC outcome of their investigation and are considering an appeal.

Police power to shoot someone dead :
Article Two of the European Convention on Human Rights says that everyone has a right to life – but that does not mean that police cannot shoot someone dead.

The law states that police can use force, including lethal force, providing it is necessary in the circumstances. In other words, if an officer can show that he was right to believe that the force he used was the only way to protect himself or others, then that can be deemed to be lawful.