Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Bulletin; Mark Duggan: UK; Inquest jury rules that police shooting was lawful; Outraged family members claim verdict should have been homicide as 29-year-old had no gun in his hand. His 2011 death had sparked riots. BBC News.


STORY: "Mark Duggan killing lawful, says jury," published by BBC News on January 8, 2014.

GIST: "Mark Duggan, whose death sparked riots in England in 2011, was lawfully killed by police, an inquest jury has said by a majority of 8 to 2. The 29-year-old was shot dead by armed officers in August 2011 in Tottenham, north London. Following the verdict at the Royal Courts of Justice, his aunt Carole Duggan said her nephew had been "executed". Mr Duggan's brother Shaun Hall said: "We still fight for justice." Jurors concluded Mr Duggan did not have a gun when he was shot by officers. They also said it was more likely than not that Mr Duggan had thrown a gun from a taxi just before he was killed. The weapon was found about 20ft (6m) away from the scene. The panel of seven women and three men said police had not done enough to gather and react to intelligence about the possibility of Mr Duggan collecting a gun from Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, who has since been found guilty of supplying the firearm. But the jury said the taxi had been stopped in a location and in a way that "minimised to the greatest extent possible recourse to lethal force".........Following the conclusion to the inquest, an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) spokesperson said: "We note the inquest jury's determination and findings and we are considering them as a matter of urgency in relation to our ongoing investigation." But a family spokeswoman said: "We can't believe this was the outcome. He had no gun in his hand, yet he was murdered.""
The entire story can be found at: 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25657949#%22

See related Guardian story: "Police believe Duggan was a gangster who kept escaping punishment for his most serious crimes until he made one final mistake: pulling a gun on armed officers. Sceptics believe Duggan was streetwise enough to know you do not pull a gun on armed police and expect to live. It was common ground that on the day he was shot, Duggan had taken a minicab to collect a gun. The key question before the jury was: when police forced the cab carrying Duggan to stop, were they correct in saying that he came out with a weapon and raised it in the direction of armed officers? Two officers testified he had a weapon. The forensic evidence did not support that, and other expert evidence suggested key parts of the police account were incorrect. The jury decided Duggan threw the gun before police confronted him, and did not have it in his hand when shot."

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/08/mark-duggan-death-london-riots

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com;