Carole Duggan: ‘I’m not going away, they’re not shutting me up’

Carole Duggan & Nephew, Mark Dugganoriginally by: The Guardian
published: 28 February 2014

Carole Duggan doesn’t want us to meet at her house, because she’s sure it has been bugged. She thinks her mobile has also been tapped, so we don’t decide on an alternative venue over the phone. We can’t make arrangements by email, either, because her laptop was stolen in a recent break-in.

It might have been just a random burglary, of course – but the thief was uncommonly tidy, didn’t touch her cash and other valuables, and stole only the computer and a phone. Besides, even if no one is listening in, she’s still wary about talking to me.

The press keep twisting her words, she says, and she worries that whatever she says will be used against her by the Daily Mail and the Sun. So we agree to meet at the train station in Manchester, and take it from there.

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Campaigners pressure police to improve

Tippa Naphtali 2013by: The Voice Online
published: 4 July 2013

Mikey Powell, Kingsley Burrell, Sean Rigg, Olaseni Lewis, Roger Sylvester and many more – the tragic roll call of names of those who have died in police custody were read out several times during the UK’s first ever public forum on black mental health.

Senior political figures joined forces with police chiefs, health professionals, and also families of the dead who gave traumatic accounts of their long fight seeking justice for their loved ones.

Those directly involved in policing and mental health vowed it will be a turning point in the campaign for justice, empathy and expertise when dealing with those in mental crisis.

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Birmingham dad died serving a 9-week sentence

Marlon McIntoshby: Birmingham Mail
published: 1 July 2013

An investigation has been launched into the death of a father-of-three whose body was found in a cell at Birmingham Prison. Marlon McIntosh, from Quinton, was serving a nine-week sentence for theft when he was discovered dead on April 30.

The 28-year-old’s devastated relatives were told he was found hanged. An inquest has been opened and adjourned and security firm G4S, which runs the prison, said the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman was investigating.

The firm said the probe was “normal practice in such circumstances”.

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