12 February 201015 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Cops made fun out of dying prisoner

originally published by: Bexley Times 24
4th February 2010

Police officers laughed and joked about a young man they saw die on the floor of a cell, an inquest heard.

Paul Coker, 32, died at Plumstead Police Station, two hours after he was arrested at the house of Lucy Chadwick, on suspicion of breaching the peace, in the early hours of August 6, 2005.

The jury at his inquest at Southwark Coroners Court this week, heard how he struggled with several police officers and tried to jump out of a first floor window.

3 February 201015 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Man paralysed after arrest demands a full public inquiry

originally published by: The Independent
31st January 2010

A man left brain damaged is demanding a public inquiry into “systemic failings” of police and private security staff which almost killed him.

Gary Reynolds, 41, an accomplished marathon runner and self-employed painter and decorator, was found in a coma in his cell a few hours after he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly in Brighton city centre in 2008.

His lawyers believe the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) failed to investigate properly the circumstances surrounding his arrest and subsequent treatment in the police station, which has resulted in a “deeply flawed report” that “fails to hold those implicated to account”.

23 January 201015 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Secret Blair Peach document withheld by Home Office

originally published by: The Guardian
22nd January 2010

Government officials withheld a document relating to the death of Blair Peach, the anti-fascist campaigner widely believed to have been killed by police in 1979, because they feared it would portray the coroner as biased and lend weight to calls for a public inquiry.

Peach, a 33-year-old teacher from New Zealand, died after being struck on the head at a demonstration against the National Front in Southall, west London. Witnesses said they saw him being attacked by police but after an internal investigation by the Metropolitan police no officers were charged.