Author: Larry Fedja

Larry Fedja

‘Mark Duggan’s death could have been avoided’

Mark-Duggan_530x330source: The Voice Online
published: 23 March 2015

The death of Mark Duggan and the riots that followed could have been avoided, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed. One of the newspaper’s investigative reporters, David Rose, has said he has found evidence that failings on the part of the now-defunct Trident gun crime unit led to the shooting of the 29-year-old on August 4, 2011.

They could have instead focused on Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, the man serving time for supplying Duggan with a gun, who the family believe may have been a police informant and was being ‘protected by the police’.

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Larry Fedja

No convictions over more than 500 Black and Asian deaths in custody

IRR Report - DYING FOR JUSTICE
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source: The Guardian
published: 21 March 2015

More than 500 black and ethnic minority individuals have died in suspicious circumstances while in state detention over the past 24 years, but not a single official has been successfully prosecuted, a report examining institutional racism has revealed.

The report, by the Institute of Race Relations, concludes that too little has changed to prevent black and Asian people dying in detention and that seemingly racist attitudes remain a concern, with a “large proportion of these deaths involving undue force and many more a culpable lack of care”.

It concludes: “Despite narrative verdicts warning of dangerous procedures and the proliferation of guidelines, lessons are not being learnt: people die in similar ways year on year.”

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Larry Fedja

INQUEST launch groundbreaking mental health report

police & mental healthall credits: INQUEST
published: 11 February 2015

On Wednesday 11 February 2015, in parliament, INQUEST launched a ground breaking evidence based report Deaths in Mental Health Detention: An investigation framework fit for purpose? 

The report is based on INQUEST’s work with families of those who have died in mental health settings and related policy work. It identifies three key themes:

  1. The number of deaths and issues relating to their reporting and monitoring
  2. The lack of an independent system of pre-inquest investigation as compared to other deaths in detention.
  3. The lack of a robust mechanism for ensuring post-death accountability and learning

It documents concerns about the lack of a properly independent investigation system unlike deaths in prison and police custody which are independently investigated pre-inquest and the consistent failure by most Trusts to ensure the meaningful involvement of families in investigations.

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