Post date: Jan 09, 2014 12:15:58 AM
Mark Duggan's family say they will fight for justice after an inquest jury concluded by a majority of 8 to 2 that he was lawfully killed by police.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 8, 2014) (ITN) - A British inquest found on Wednesday (January 8) that police acted lawfully when they shot and killed a man whose death sparked a wave of rioting in 2011 in the worst civil unrest in the country in decades.
Mark Duggan, 29, died after he was shot by police who suspected he was armed at the time.Although all 10 people on the jury said they believed that Duggan had a gun with him before the taxi he was travelling in was stopped by police officers, eight said he did not have the gun in his hand when he was shot.
Nevertheless, eight jurors ruled that the killing of Duggan was lawful. The remaining two said there was not enough evidence for a clear ruling either way.
Duggan's family told media they would not give up the case.
"For as long as it takes, God give my family strength. Not only the family, the whole of our legal team, the whole of our friends, the whole of the people that we don't even know that have supported. The majority of the people in this country know that was executed. He was executed and we still believe that and we're going to fight until we have no breath in our body for justice for Mark, for his children and for all of those other deaths in custody that have had no, nothing for them. We are not giving up. No justice, no peace!," said Mark's aunt, Carole Duggan, outside court.
A senior officer of London's Metropolitan police expressed sympathy for Duggan's family.
"I will be offering to meet Mark Duggan's family to express our sorrow and we will continue working with local communities to strengthen relationships. We know it will take time, "Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley told reporters as protesters yelled "murderer".
The killing of Duggan prompted protests in August 2011 in the streets of Tottenham, a deprived district in north London, that escalated into rioting and looting which quickly spread to elsewhere in London and other British cities.
Prime Minister David Cameron blamed gangs and criminal behaviour for the violence, but critics said government austerity measures that squeezed the poor and a breakdown in police and community relations in Tottenham were to blame.