Custody Deaths & Abuse

4WardEverUK

Protest against UK deaths in police custody

all credits: PressTV
published: 29th October 2011

Once again, this year, like every year hundreds gathered for the annual march against deaths in police custody in Britain. Most of those here are family members who say they have lost loved ones at the hands of the police. Like the family of Sean Riggs who died on 21 August 2008. A 40-year old musician, he was arrested in the street by four officers and taken to a nearby police station. He was placed in a metal cage in the yard. 20 minutes later he was dead.

UFFC Demo 2011 Gallery by 4WardEver UK >

See the list – Deaths in Custody 1969-2011 >

Government Response to UFFC Demands – Dec 2011 >

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4WardEverUK

Kingsley Burrell: ‘No closure’ for family

originally by: BBC News
published: 7th October 2011

Seven months after a 29-year-old man died in a West Midlands hospital his family are still waiting to hear how he died. Kingsley Brown was detained under the Mental Health Act in March after West Midlands Police officers attended an incident on Icknield Port Road, Birmingham.

Mr Brown was transferred to a unit in the city and then moved to a hospital where he died four days later. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is conducting an investigation while a separate inquiry is being carried out by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust.

Mr Brown’s 28-year-old sister, Kadesha Burrell Brown, who organised a march to West Midlands Police headquarters in July in memory of her brother, told BBC News the family had “no answers and no closure”.

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4WardEverUK

Police ignored pleas for ambulance, say family

Tippa Naphtali, the cousin of Mikey Powell said; “When I saw this headline about Jake’s case its first impact was how identical it was to headlines related to my cousin’s case. The more I read about Jake’s death the more I realised the striking similarity of events to those of Mikey’s.

“I am extremely saddended for the family and friends of Jake and outraged that such a sequence of events could be repeated almost blow for blow. Where are these lessons that police forces throughout the UK claim they take on after deaths in custody? Are we going to continue to allow this complacency?

“This has to stop. Family campaigners need to take matters into our hands in a manner more unprecidented than anything seen before. We need to adopt an intelligent and collaborative response working with a single vision and strategy.

“Our thoughts go out to this family and the others, both recent and previous, that have suffered this ultimate injustice”. 

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