Mark Duggan: Still many unanswered questions
Yesterday, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster was found guilty of supplying a handgun to Mrak Duggan. Shortly after receiving the gun, Duggan was shot and killed by armed officers. The shooting and police handling of the case sparked the summers' riots in 2011.
Yet the conviction of Hutchinson-Foster still leaves many unanswered questions as to whether or not Duggan was unlawfully killed.
During the Old Baily trail, the court heard how Duggan had collected the gun - a BBM Bruni Model 92 from Hutchinson in a shoe box. 15 minutes later, the police armed unit decided to intercept Duggan.
The police officer who shot Duggan claims he was '100%' sure that Duggan had the gun in his hand and raised it, which led the officer to fear that he would be shot.
Many of the unanswered questions arise from the facts that the gun was wrapped up in a sock in the box. Furthermore, according to police accounts, the gun was found some 16 feet away from Duggan still wrapped up in the sock.
Speaking during the trial of Hutchinson-Foster was Prof Jonathan Clasper, an expert in bioengineering and former army officer. He said an involuntary movement by Duggan, occurring after he was shot, cannot explain why the gun was found 10-14ft (3-4 metres) away from where he fell.
Few would argue that the job of armed officers dealing with dangerous individuals is about as stressful a job you could imagine. However, if the police are to regain the trust of the Black community and wider society they must be prepared to be totally honest. The media reports shortly after Duggan’s death which highlighted officers had been fired upon was at best misinformation and worst blatant lying. Furthermore, it was the inability of the police to effectively liase with Mark Duggan’s family, which left them and their supporters angry and frustrated.
During the Hutchinson-Foster case, the Met Police have clearly set out their stall in regard to the death of Mark Duggan. Sadly, their account raises more questions than it answers.
Simon Woolley
![Mark Duggan: Still many unanswered questions [1.5217391304348]](http://www.obv.org.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/350x230/images/mark-duggan-2_2.jpg)
Archived Comments
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Police must have secretly filmed the whole thing, where is it?
If the police story was true, they must had the intelligence that the handgun was going to be handed over from Kevin Hutchinson-Foster to Mark Duggan, it is unthinkable that with such intelligence, the undercover officers did not photograph or film the handover so that have solid evidence to charge both of them and they should have filmed the car journey as they followed Mark Duggan as evidence too, well, that is if they only intended to arrest Dungan to charge him for gun possession. So why there were no such photographs/films being presented to get a easy conviction of Kevin Hutchinson-Foster?
One theory is that there were such films, photographs, but if presented, may prove the Police officers statements are pile of co-ordinated lies upon lies, as far as why they shot Duggan is concerned. Hence police chose not to mention the existence of such evidence in Hutchinson-Foster trial. ( I wont be surprised that they probably had already destroyed such evidence)
It is also possible, that the killing of Duggan was planned by the Police right from the beginning, it was a perfect chance to shoot someone dead if he had been "troublesome" to the Police. Police could not have a better opportunity to shoot someone dead than confronting the person when they were in possession of a firearm.
What game is the CPS playing at this trial?
Why has the CPS chosen to go in such great details of the shooting of Mark Duggan at Hutchinson-Foster trial when there is no one to challenge on behalf of Duggan's family? Is CPS not supposed to be independent from the Police? Can we trust CPS's motives and can CPS still hold public confidence if they chose to play it unfair? " We have the power and we will abuse it, because there is nothing anyone can do about it" seem to has become CPS guiding principle.
Perhaps the Police has become rotten as they are today because the CPS has been acting as the protector of the Police and is just as rotten as the Police.