2 June 2006 Forest Gate raid
Encyclopedia
The 2 June 2006 Forest Gate raid saw the arrest of two men at their east London homes in Forest Gate
by police acting on what they described as "specific intelligence
" that they might be terrorists in possession of a chemical bomb. One of the men was shot during the raid. No explosive devices were found during the raid, nor was there any evidence of terrorist activity. The men were released without charge. Mohammed Abdul Kahar was, however, charged, after 44 indecent images of children had been found in the memories of a computer, an external hard drive and a mobile phone recovered during the raid. The charges were later lifted, as: "The prosecution was not satisfied that Mr Kahar had the necessary computer expertise to enable him ... to transfer the images to the Nokia phone."
Subsequent inquiries cleared the officers involved of any "criminal or disciplinary offence". Metropolitan Police apologised for the raid. The apology was welcomed by the families affected, but they demanded the investigation of the steps the police took to assess the quality of the intelligence leading to the raids.
The cost of the operation exceeded two million pounds.
, they arrested brothers Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abdul Koyair, 20. During the raid, Kahar was shot in the shoulder (some sources mention "chest" based on Mr Kahar's comment of "There was blood coming down my chest.") by the police and was taken to the Royal London Hospital
. Initial press rumours suggested that he had been shot by his brother, but the police later stated that the shot had been fired accidentally by the armed officer leading the operation. 250 police officers were involved in the raid.
In the same raid, an unnamed and unrelated family, renting a neighbouring terraced house from the father of the two arrested men, was also raided in conditions that have been described by their lawyer as "as lawless as the wild west".
Nearby roads were closed to the public for several days whilst investigations were carried out, and a prohibition on aircraft flying below 2,500 ft was imposed on the area.
However, no chemical materials were found and the two brothers were released without charge in the evening of 9 June. After the two men gave a press conference on 13 June, the Metropolitan Police
apologised for the "hurt" caused.
The Metropolitan Police revealed under freedom of information legislation
that what was known as Operation Volga had cost £2,211,600, including £864,300 on overtime payments for the dozens of police officers involved, £90,000 on hotel bills, and £120,000 for repairs to the damage caused to the houses by the police.
It has been alleged that a British Muslim, Abu Bakr Mansha
, who was jailed in January 2006 on terrorism charges and who grew up in the neighbourhood had provided the intelligence "trigger" for the raid, although this has been denied by his lawyer.
on Friday 9 June and on Sunday 11 June, where a sister of those arrested said that she hoped that the protests would "highlight the fact no other innocent family should be forced to go through the same nightmare".
On 18 June 2006, approximately 5000 people from a broad cross-section of local communities marched throughout Newham to Forest Gate Police Station in a protest against the violent nature in which the raids had taken place. The march was organised by a coalition of local groups, including the main support group to the families Newham Monitoring Project
.
said that they had "no choice but to act" but also apologised for the "disruption and inconvenience" the raid caused. The Muslim Council of Britain
welcomed the releases, but hoped "lessons would be learned".
The then Prime Minister
, Tony Blair
, said that he supported the police "101%", adding that "You can only imagine if they fail to take action and something terrible happened what outcry would be then, so they are in an impossible situation." The prime minister also defended police chief Ian Blair
, when several papers called on him to resign over the raid. A solicitor for the two men said that they plan to sue the Metropolitan Police
, for a figure which lawyers estimate could be as high as £
500,000, but at a press conference on 13 June 2006 Abdul Kahar said that suing the police was "not even in our heads", and they were more interested in an apology. As of 21 July 2006, he had not yet returned to the house.
, who have prepared a leaflet about its enquiry for distribution to homes and other locations in the area. On 10 July 2006, the IPCC confirmed that there would be a second inquiry regarding claims made by neighbours of the house raided.
On 3 August 2006, the Independent Police Complaints Commission concluded that the shooting was an "accident". They said that based on forensic evidence, "there is no evidence of intent or recklessness on the part of the firearms officer and that no offence was committed in the firing of the weapon." Scotland Yard released a statement saying it regretted that an accidental discharge had caused injury.
It also emerged on 3 August that Mohammed Abdul Kahar had been arrested by police on suspicion of making pornographic pictures of children
, and was in custody at a London police station. He strenuously denied the allegations. On the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service, no charges were brought against him.
On 13 February 2007, the IPCC released its second inquiry. The IPCC concluded that the police had not used excessive force given the intelligence they used, but that they should have changed their response once it became clear that the situation was under control and there was no imminent threat. The IPCC upheld complaints about the treatment of suspects in custody, particularly over the withholding of medication from Mr Abdulkahar. The IPCC also concluded that the high-profile nature of the raid merited a high-profile apology, and urged the Metropolitan Police to publicly apologise to the two families involved. Families involved in the raid criticised the IPCC for failing to investigate how the Police had obtained and handled the erroneous intelligence that led to the raid.
Forest Gate
Forest Gate is a residential area in the London Borough of Newham, 7 miles northeast of Charing Cross. It is bordered by Manor Park to the east and and to the west lies Stratford town centre. The northern half of the busy Green Street runs through it.-History:...
by police acting on what they described as "specific intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
" that they might be terrorists in possession of a chemical bomb. One of the men was shot during the raid. No explosive devices were found during the raid, nor was there any evidence of terrorist activity. The men were released without charge. Mohammed Abdul Kahar was, however, charged, after 44 indecent images of children had been found in the memories of a computer, an external hard drive and a mobile phone recovered during the raid. The charges were later lifted, as: "The prosecution was not satisfied that Mr Kahar had the necessary computer expertise to enable him ... to transfer the images to the Nokia phone."
Subsequent inquiries cleared the officers involved of any "criminal or disciplinary offence". Metropolitan Police apologised for the raid. The apology was welcomed by the families affected, but they demanded the investigation of the steps the police took to assess the quality of the intelligence leading to the raids.
The cost of the operation exceeded two million pounds.
The raid
Early on Friday, 2 June 2006, police raided two houses on Lansdown Road, Forest Gate, London, acting on intelligence that there was a chemical weapon located at the premises. Under the authority of the Terrorism ActTerrorism Act 2000
The Terrorism Act 2000 is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland Act 1996...
, they arrested brothers Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abdul Koyair, 20. During the raid, Kahar was shot in the shoulder (some sources mention "chest" based on Mr Kahar's comment of "There was blood coming down my chest.") by the police and was taken to the Royal London Hospital
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital was founded in September 1740 and was originally named The London Infirmary. The name changed to The London Hospital in 1748 and then to The Royal London Hospital on its 250th anniversary in 1990. The first patients were treated at a house in Featherstone Street,...
. Initial press rumours suggested that he had been shot by his brother, but the police later stated that the shot had been fired accidentally by the armed officer leading the operation. 250 police officers were involved in the raid.
In the same raid, an unnamed and unrelated family, renting a neighbouring terraced house from the father of the two arrested men, was also raided in conditions that have been described by their lawyer as "as lawless as the wild west".
Nearby roads were closed to the public for several days whilst investigations were carried out, and a prohibition on aircraft flying below 2,500 ft was imposed on the area.
However, no chemical materials were found and the two brothers were released without charge in the evening of 9 June. After the two men gave a press conference on 13 June, the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
apologised for the "hurt" caused.
The Metropolitan Police revealed under freedom of information legislation
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
that what was known as Operation Volga had cost £2,211,600, including £864,300 on overtime payments for the dozens of police officers involved, £90,000 on hotel bills, and £120,000 for repairs to the damage caused to the houses by the police.
It has been alleged that a British Muslim, Abu Bakr Mansha
Abu Bakr Mansha
Abu Bakr Mansha is a person who was convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000.A police raid on his flat in Thamesmead had found a blank-firing gun, which someone was trying to convert to fire live rounds, as well as DVDs containing "virulent anti-Western propaganda" relating to Osama bin Laden and...
, who was jailed in January 2006 on terrorism charges and who grew up in the neighbourhood had provided the intelligence "trigger" for the raid, although this has been denied by his lawyer.
Protests
Protests by Muslim groups were held outside Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
on Friday 9 June and on Sunday 11 June, where a sister of those arrested said that she hoped that the protests would "highlight the fact no other innocent family should be forced to go through the same nightmare".
On 18 June 2006, approximately 5000 people from a broad cross-section of local communities marched throughout Newham to Forest Gate Police Station in a protest against the violent nature in which the raids had taken place. The march was organised by a coalition of local groups, including the main support group to the families Newham Monitoring Project
Newham Monitoring Project
Newham Monitoring Project is a grassroots community-based anti-racist organisation in the London Borough of Newham, London, England with a remit to provide support work against racial discrimination and violence, police misconduct and around civil rights issues. It provides advice, support,...
.
Reactions
Reactions to the raid were mixed. Scotland Yard's Assistant Commissioner Andy HaymanAndy Hayman
Andrew Christopher "Andy" Hayman, CBE, QPM is a retired British police officer and author of The Terrorist Hunters. Hayman held the rank of Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary and Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at London's Metropolitan Police, the highest ranking officer...
said that they had "no choice but to act" but also apologised for the "disruption and inconvenience" the raid caused. The Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...
welcomed the releases, but hoped "lessons would be learned".
The then Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, said that he supported the police "101%", adding that "You can only imagine if they fail to take action and something terrible happened what outcry would be then, so they are in an impossible situation." The prime minister also defended police chief Ian Blair
Ian Blair
Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, QPM is a retired British Police officer who held the position of commissioner of police of the metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.On 2 October 2008 Blair announced that he would...
, when several papers called on him to resign over the raid. A solicitor for the two men said that they plan to sue the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
, for a figure which lawyers estimate could be as high as £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
500,000, but at a press conference on 13 June 2006 Abdul Kahar said that suing the police was "not even in our heads", and they were more interested in an apology. As of 21 July 2006, he had not yet returned to the house.
Inquiries
The shooting was referred to Independent Police Complaints CommissionIndependent Police Complaints Commission
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...
, who have prepared a leaflet about its enquiry for distribution to homes and other locations in the area. On 10 July 2006, the IPCC confirmed that there would be a second inquiry regarding claims made by neighbours of the house raided.
On 3 August 2006, the Independent Police Complaints Commission concluded that the shooting was an "accident". They said that based on forensic evidence, "there is no evidence of intent or recklessness on the part of the firearms officer and that no offence was committed in the firing of the weapon." Scotland Yard released a statement saying it regretted that an accidental discharge had caused injury.
It also emerged on 3 August that Mohammed Abdul Kahar had been arrested by police on suspicion of making pornographic pictures of children
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, and was in custody at a London police station. He strenuously denied the allegations. On the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service, no charges were brought against him.
On 13 February 2007, the IPCC released its second inquiry. The IPCC concluded that the police had not used excessive force given the intelligence they used, but that they should have changed their response once it became clear that the situation was under control and there was no imminent threat. The IPCC upheld complaints about the treatment of suspects in custody, particularly over the withholding of medication from Mr Abdulkahar. The IPCC also concluded that the high-profile nature of the raid merited a high-profile apology, and urged the Metropolitan Police to publicly apologise to the two families involved. Families involved in the raid criticised the IPCC for failing to investigate how the Police had obtained and handled the erroneous intelligence that led to the raid.
Media representation
- Taking LibertiesTaking Liberties (film)Taking Liberties is a documentary film about the erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom and increase of surveillance under the government of Tony Blair...
- Documentary about the implications of anti terrorism legislation on civil rightsCivil liberties in the United KingdomCivil liberties in the United Kingdom have a long and formative history. This is usually considered to have begun with the English legal charter the Magna Carta of 1215, following its predecessor the English Charter of Liberties, a landmark document in English legal history...
in the UK.