Mark Duggan police must stop refusing to be interviewed, says IPCC head

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/14/mark-duggan-police-must-talk-says-ipcc

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The head of the police watchdog says officers involved in the operation that led to the killing of Mark Duggan may still have to attend interview, and she called on them to end their refusal to answer oral questions.

Dame Anne Owers, chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), said the insistence by officers that they would only answer questions in writing had caused a delay in the investigation of nearly a year.

She said the IPCC's investigation into Duggan's death was continuing, following last week's inquest finding that his shooting was lawful and that he was not holding a gun when he came face to face with armed police officers.

Owers' comments came in response to a Guardian interview last week with Commander Neil Basu, head of the Met's firearms unit, in which he said the delay of more than two years was "emotionally intolerable" for his officers and the Duggan family.

In a letter to the Guardian, Owers said she agreed the delays caused added strain for all involved: "There were many reasons for this – not least the complexity of this case, two associated criminal trials and our own finite resources. We agree that such delays add to the stress and anxiety for all concerned."

But she went on to say the firearms and other Met officers involved had added to that delay: "A key feature of this investigation was the fact that the firearms officers refused to answer questions at interview.

"Following a protracted exchange of written questions and answers, it was nearly a year before we were able to get answers to all our questions, and even then we were not able to probe those answers verbally.

"The law has now changed and we can compel officers to come in for interview. However, they can and still do refuse to answer questions verbally at interview."

The IPCC investigation, criticised by the Duggan family, treated the officers involved as witnesses, not suspects.

It so far has found nothing to suggest any need for criminal or disciplinary charges. The IPCC believes new evidence has emerged from the inquest, which its investigators will examine before finally completing its much-delayed report into the shooting, which triggered the worst riots in modern English history.

The Met said it has begun a programme that will allow the marksman who shot Duggan, known only as V53, to return to armed duties if he wishes to.

He shot Duggan twice in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011, mistakenly believing Duggan was holding a gun. They also concluded he had an honest belief Duggan was holding a weapon, after intelligence was received that Duggan had collected a gun just minutes before police stopped a minicab he was traveling in.

Owers criticised officers who do not fully co-operate with the IPCC's investigations. She wrote: "Families and friends of those who die during police contact find it inexplicable that officers present at someone's death do not fully co-operate with subsequent investigations – so do we. It means that the inquest is the first time they have to account properly for their actions and have their evidence probed and tested.

"Following the comments made recently by the commissioner of the Metropolitan police, I hope that Commander Basu's officers will now not only attend interviews, but also answer questions, if required, in our continuing investigation into Mark Duggan's death, and any future tragic deaths."

The IPCC on Tuesday met the Duggan family and their lawyers to discuss the next steps for the investigation.

Mark Rowley, a Met assistant commissioner, told MPs that more than 1,300 officers were on standby for possible disorder at the Duggan vigil last Saturday. He told the Commons home affairs select committee that a "community policing" approach was adopted at the vigil, which passed off peacefully though there had been two "streams of intelligence" warning of possible disorder from "extreme leftwing groups" and "local criminal youths".

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