Death of Mark Duggan
Encyclopedia
Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old black man, was shot on 4 August 2011 by police attempting to arrest him in Tottenham
, London, England, following a surveillance
operation, on suspicion of a planned revenge attack following the fatal stabbing of his cousin. He died from a gunshot wound
to the chest. The reaction of some people to the apparent circumstances of his death, a public demonstration and an attack on police vehicles, were contributory factors to a riot
in Tottenham, which escalated into widespread riots
, looting
and arson
in London and in some major English cities.
stopped a minicab which was carrying Duggan as a passenger at about 18:15 BST on 4 August 2011 to attempt to arrest him. In the course of arresting him, the police fired twice, killing Duggan with a single gunshot to the chest. Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service
and medics from the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service attended, but Duggan was pronounced dead at scene at 18:41 BST.
Initially, a spokesman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission
(IPCC) is reported to have stated that they "understand the officer was shot first before the male was shot." A bullet was found embedded in a radio worn by a policeman, but initial ballistics
tests on the projectile indicate it was a "jacketed round", a police issue bullet fired from a Heckler & Koch MP5
semi-automatic carbine, as used by the police. Its presence may have been due to a ricochet
or overpenetration.
The IPCC stated that a loaded Bruni BBM blank-firing pistol converted to fire live rounds was recovered from the scene. The IPCC had commissioned tests on the pistol by the Forensic Science Service
and had received advice that it was an illegal firearm. The gun was wrapped in a sock, a practice allegedly used to avoid leaving evidence if it was used. The IPCC announced on 9 August that there was no evidence that the gun had been fired, that this had not been ruled out and further tests were being conducted. On 18 November 2011 it was announced that the IPCC was to investigate whether the same gun had been used in an earlier incident, on 29 July 2011, when a man was assaulted in Hackney. Video and other evidence was obtained by the IPCC showing Duggan had obtained the firearm earlier in day. His fingerprints were found on a cardboard box which appeared to have contained the gun when he collected it. The sock and gun were taken out of the box before Duggan was shot. His DNA and fingerprints have not yet been recovered from the sock which wrapped the gun, nor from the weapon itself.
According to an eyewitness, a police officer had "shouted to the man to stop 'a couple of times', but he had not heeded the warning". A Metropolitan Police Federation
representative asserted that the officer who killed Duggan had "an honest-held belief that he was in imminent danger of him and his colleagues being shot".
The police who shot Duggan were part of the Specialist Firearms Command
(CO19), accompanying officers from Operation Trident, a London Metropolitan police unit which deals with black-on-black gun crime.
to Tottenham Police Station. The demonstrators wanted information from police about the circumstances of Duggan's death. A chief inspector spoke with the demonstrators, who demanded to see a higher-ranking officer. About 20:20 BST, some members of the waiting crowd attacked two nearby police cars, setting them on fire. According to Metropolitan Police Commander Adrian Hanstock, the violence was started by "certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil".
Rioting, arson and looting spread to other parts of London, and to other cities in England.
Duggan's family condemned the disorder. His older brother said, "We're not condoning any kind of actions like that at all." While Duggan's shooting was perhaps the trigger for the violence, several other causes of the rioting have been suggested.
British Prime Minister
David Cameron
rejected a causal relationship between the death of Mark Duggan and the subsequent looting.
(IPCC), in accordance with standard practice when anyone dies or is seriously injured following police contact. Investigators accompanied by activists distributed leaflets, appealing for witnesses to come forward. IPCC officers are also searching CCTV footage, 999
calls and radio transmissions.
On 12 August 2011 the IPCC announced that in the immediate aftermath of the incident they may have given misleading information to journalists to the effect that shots were exchanged between Duggan and the police. Although a bullet had been found lodged in a police radio, there was no evidence that it had come from the gun in Duggan's possession.
Duggan's family stated that they do not trust the IPCC to conduct a fair and independent investigation of the killing and asked for an independent inquiry into the relationship between the Metropolitan Police and the IPCC. They sought to commission an independent second postmortem.
David Lammy
, Labour
MP for Tottenham, said that the shooting raised "huge questions" and we "need answers".
Inquiries into Duggan's death by the IPCC and the coroner
could take four to six months to complete. Coroner Andrew Walker
scheduled a hearing for 12 December 2011.
In November 2011, the IPCC commenced an investigation into the approach by police to a gun crime committed on 29 July 2011 in which the gun which was found at the scene of Duggan's shooting may also have been used.
In November 2011, two community activists who were appointed to liaise with the IPCC, resigned from those posts. A third remained in post. One of those who left said that the IPCC work was "shoddy."
and founding member of North London's "Star Gang", an offshoot of the Tottenham Mandem
gang. The Telegraph
has cited unnamed police sources claiming that Duggan was a "well known gangster" and a "major player and well known to the police in Tottenham". Duggan was a nephew of deceased Manchester gangland boss Desmond Noonan
.
Operation Trident had Duggan under surveillance, suspecting that he was planning to commit a crime connected with the death of his cousin Kelvin Easton, who was stabbed to death outside an East London bar in March 2011. Duggan was increasingly paranoid as a consequence of his cousin's violent death. The Telegraph
claimed that Duggan was bound to avenge the death by the "street code" of the gang.
Duggan's family denounced the allegations against Duggan as "disinformation", claiming that he was "not a gang member and he had no criminal record".
Duggan's funeral procession in Tottenham on 9 September 2011 was viewed by thousands of onlookers. Police maintained a low profile.
people and the police before and since the Broadwater Farm riot
in 1985, in which, according to David Lammy
, Labour MP for Tottenham, the "cracks that already existed between the police and the community became deep fissures". Since 1985 "there had been some progress made in the relationship between the local community and the police", but the shooting "raised tension". Lammy claimed that Duggan's death occurred as part of "a history in Tottenham that involves deaths in police custody". Claudia Webbe
, the chairperson of Operation Trident, asserted that many black people see Duggan's shooting as "yet another unjust death in custody" and that young black people in Tottenham are "still six, seven, eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts".
British novelist Alex Wheatle
, who served a term of imprisonment for crimes he committed in the 1981 Brixton riot, asserts that there is "a deep aggravation" that despite many black deaths in police custody there has been no conviction of a police officer.
In response to rumours that the killing of Mark Duggan was an "execution", the IPCC announced: "Speculation that Mark Duggan was 'assassinated' in an execution style involving a number of shots to the head are categorically untrue."
The killing of Mark Duggan was said to be "a simmering source of tension" and a contributory factor to "growing anti-police sentiment" ahead of the Notting Hill Carnival
parade in late August. Metropolitan Police Federation vice-chairman John Tully referred to a sense of fury "among locals" in Tottenham and an atmosphere of hatred towards the police and "the establishment" was said to be evident at a meeting Tully attended.
Tottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
, London, England, following a surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
operation, on suspicion of a planned revenge attack following the fatal stabbing of his cousin. He died from a gunshot wound
Ballistic trauma
The term ballistic trauma refers to a form of physical trauma sustained from the discharge of arms or munitions. The most common forms of ballistic trauma stem from firearms used in armed conflicts, civilian sporting and recreational pursuits, and criminal activity.-Destructive effects:The degree...
to the chest. The reaction of some people to the apparent circumstances of his death, a public demonstration and an attack on police vehicles, were contributory factors to a riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
in Tottenham, which escalated into widespread riots
2011 England riots
Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson....
, looting
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
and arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
in London and in some major English cities.
Interception and shooting
The Metropolitan Police ServiceMetropolitan 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...
stopped a minicab which was carrying Duggan as a passenger at about 18:15 BST on 4 August 2011 to attempt to arrest him. In the course of arresting him, the police fired twice, killing Duggan with a single gunshot to the chest. Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service
London Ambulance Service
The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust is the largest "free at the point of contact" emergency ambulance service in the world. It responds to medical emergencies in Greater London, England, with the ambulances and other response vehicles and over 5,000 staff at its disposal.It is one of 12...
and medics from the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service attended, but Duggan was pronounced dead at scene at 18:41 BST.
Initially, a spokesman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Independent 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:...
(IPCC) is reported to have stated that they "understand the officer was shot first before the male was shot." A bullet was found embedded in a radio worn by a policeman, but initial ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
tests on the projectile indicate it was a "jacketed round", a police issue bullet fired from a Heckler & Koch MP5
Heckler & Koch MP5
The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
semi-automatic carbine, as used by the police. Its presence may have been due to a ricochet
Ricochet
A ricochet is a rebound, bounce or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. The possibility of ricochet is one of the reasons for the common firearms safety rule "Never shoot at a flat, hard surface."-Variables:...
or overpenetration.
The IPCC stated that a loaded Bruni BBM blank-firing pistol converted to fire live rounds was recovered from the scene. The IPCC had commissioned tests on the pistol by the Forensic Science Service
Forensic Science Service
The Forensic Science Service is a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provides forensic science services to the police forces and government agencies of England and Wales, as well as other countries.-History:...
and had received advice that it was an illegal firearm. The gun was wrapped in a sock, a practice allegedly used to avoid leaving evidence if it was used. The IPCC announced on 9 August that there was no evidence that the gun had been fired, that this had not been ruled out and further tests were being conducted. On 18 November 2011 it was announced that the IPCC was to investigate whether the same gun had been used in an earlier incident, on 29 July 2011, when a man was assaulted in Hackney. Video and other evidence was obtained by the IPCC showing Duggan had obtained the firearm earlier in day. His fingerprints were found on a cardboard box which appeared to have contained the gun when he collected it. The sock and gun were taken out of the box before Duggan was shot. His DNA and fingerprints have not yet been recovered from the sock which wrapped the gun, nor from the weapon itself.
According to an eyewitness, a police officer had "shouted to the man to stop 'a couple of times', but he had not heeded the warning". A Metropolitan Police Federation
Metropolitan Police Federation
The Metropolitan Police Federation is a staff association that represents the interests of all police in the Metropolitan Police Service up to the rank of Chief Inspector...
representative asserted that the officer who killed Duggan had "an honest-held belief that he was in imminent danger of him and his colleagues being shot".
The police who shot Duggan were part of the Specialist Firearms Command
Specialist Firearms Command
Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command is a Central Operations branch within Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service. The Command is responsible for providing a firearms-response capability, assisting the rest of the service, which is normally unarmed...
(CO19), accompanying officers from Operation Trident, a London Metropolitan police unit which deals with black-on-black gun crime.
Protest and unrest
At about 17:30 BST on 6 August 2011, Duggan's relatives and local residents marched from Broadwater FarmBroadwater Farm
Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Estate , an experiment in high-density social housing built in the late 1960s...
to Tottenham Police Station. The demonstrators wanted information from police about the circumstances of Duggan's death. A chief inspector spoke with the demonstrators, who demanded to see a higher-ranking officer. About 20:20 BST, some members of the waiting crowd attacked two nearby police cars, setting them on fire. According to Metropolitan Police Commander Adrian Hanstock, the violence was started by "certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil".
Rioting, arson and looting spread to other parts of London, and to other cities in England.
Duggan's family condemned the disorder. His older brother said, "We're not condoning any kind of actions like that at all." While Duggan's shooting was perhaps the trigger for the violence, several other causes of the rioting have been suggested.
British 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...
David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
rejected a causal relationship between the death of Mark Duggan and the subsequent looting.
Response from the police
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh of the Metropolitan Police issued an apology to the Duggan family for the manner in which police initially communicated with them, suggesting that the IPCC had a responsibility to provide information to Duggan's family.Inquiries
The incident was immediately referred to the 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:...
(IPCC), in accordance with standard practice when anyone dies or is seriously injured following police contact. Investigators accompanied by activists distributed leaflets, appealing for witnesses to come forward. IPCC officers are also searching CCTV footage, 999
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
calls and radio transmissions.
On 12 August 2011 the IPCC announced that in the immediate aftermath of the incident they may have given misleading information to journalists to the effect that shots were exchanged between Duggan and the police. Although a bullet had been found lodged in a police radio, there was no evidence that it had come from the gun in Duggan's possession.
Duggan's family stated that they do not trust the IPCC to conduct a fair and independent investigation of the killing and asked for an independent inquiry into the relationship between the Metropolitan Police and the IPCC. They sought to commission an independent second postmortem.
David Lammy
David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP for Tottenham, said that the shooting raised "huge questions" and we "need answers".
Inquiries into Duggan's death by the IPCC and the coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
could take four to six months to complete. Coroner Andrew Walker
Andrew Walker (barrister)
Andrew Walker is an English barrister and coroner for Northern District of Greater London,. In June 2006 he was appointed on temporary contract as assistant deputy coroner in Oxfordshire, one of three temporary appointees to assist in reducing a backlog of inquests into the deaths of British...
scheduled a hearing for 12 December 2011.
In November 2011, the IPCC commenced an investigation into the approach by police to a gun crime committed on 29 July 2011 in which the gun which was found at the scene of Duggan's shooting may also have been used.
In November 2011, two community activists who were appointed to liaise with the IPCC, resigned from those posts. A third remained in post. One of those who left said that the IPCC work was "shoddy."
Biography
Duggan, also known as "Starrish Mark", was a drug dealerIllegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
and founding member of North London's "Star Gang", an offshoot of the Tottenham Mandem
Tottenham Mandem
The Tottenham Mandem Crew are a gang based in Tottenham, North London that began on the Broadwater Farm estate prior to the Broadwater Farm riot in 1985. One of the early members and later leader Mark Lambie, jailed in 2002, was a suspect in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the riots.The...
gang. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
has cited unnamed police sources claiming that Duggan was a "well known gangster" and a "major player and well known to the police in Tottenham". Duggan was a nephew of deceased Manchester gangland boss Desmond Noonan
Desmond Noonan
Desmond "Dessie" Noonan was a British organised crime figure in Manchester of Irish descent who acted as a political fixer for the Noonan crime family...
.
Operation Trident had Duggan under surveillance, suspecting that he was planning to commit a crime connected with the death of his cousin Kelvin Easton, who was stabbed to death outside an East London bar in March 2011. Duggan was increasingly paranoid as a consequence of his cousin's violent death. The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
claimed that Duggan was bound to avenge the death by the "street code" of the gang.
Duggan's family denounced the allegations against Duggan as "disinformation", claiming that he was "not a gang member and he had no criminal record".
Duggan's funeral procession in Tottenham on 9 September 2011 was viewed by thousands of onlookers. Police maintained a low profile.
Policing issues
There has been tension between African-CaribbeanBritish African-Caribbean community
The British African Caribbean communities are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were primarily indigenous to Africa...
people and the police before and since the Broadwater Farm riot
Broadwater Farm riot
The Broadwater Farm riot occurred around the Broadwater Farm area of Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985.The events of the day were dominated by two deaths. The first was that of Cynthia Jarrett, an African-Caribbean woman who died the previous day from a stroke during a police search of her...
in 1985, in which, according to David Lammy
David Lammy
David Lindon Lammy is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000.Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.-Early life and Education:...
, Labour MP for Tottenham, the "cracks that already existed between the police and the community became deep fissures". Since 1985 "there had been some progress made in the relationship between the local community and the police", but the shooting "raised tension". Lammy claimed that Duggan's death occurred as part of "a history in Tottenham that involves deaths in police custody". Claudia Webbe
Claudia Webbe
Claudia Webbe is the Chairperson of New Scotland Yard's Operation Trident Independent Advisory Group after pioneering its development in the mid 1990s....
, the chairperson of Operation Trident, asserted that many black people see Duggan's shooting as "yet another unjust death in custody" and that young black people in Tottenham are "still six, seven, eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts".
British novelist Alex Wheatle
Alex Wheatle
Alex Alphonso Wheatle MBE is an award winning black British novelist of Jamaican heritage, sentenced to a term of imprisonment after the Brixton riots....
, who served a term of imprisonment for crimes he committed in the 1981 Brixton riot, asserts that there is "a deep aggravation" that despite many black deaths in police custody there has been no conviction of a police officer.
In response to rumours that the killing of Mark Duggan was an "execution", the IPCC announced: "Speculation that Mark Duggan was 'assassinated' in an execution style involving a number of shots to the head are categorically untrue."
The killing of Mark Duggan was said to be "a simmering source of tension" and a contributory factor to "growing anti-police sentiment" ahead of the Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival
The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has taken place on the streets of Notting Hill, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , London, UK each August, over two days...
parade in late August. Metropolitan Police Federation vice-chairman John Tully referred to a sense of fury "among locals" in Tottenham and an atmosphere of hatred towards the police and "the establishment" was said to be evident at a meeting Tully attended.
See also
- Death of Jean Charles de Menezes
- Death of Ian TomlinsonDeath of Ian TomlinsonIan Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after coming into contact with the police while on his way home from work during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. A first postmortem examination indicated he had suffered a heart attack and had died of natural...
- Death of Harry Stanley
- Death of James Ashley
- Death of Azelle Rodney
- Blair PeachBlair PeachClement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who was fatally assaulted by a police officer during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England....
- List of people killed by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom
- Police use of firearms in the United KingdomPolice use of firearms in the United KingdomIn the United Kingdom, the majority of police officers do not carry firearms, except in special circumstances. This originates from the formation of the Metropolitan Police Service in the 19th century, when police were not armed, partly to counter public fears and objections concerning armed...