‘WE want justice now!’ shouted over six hundred taking part in the United Friends and Families annual procession from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street on Saturday.
As they reached Downing Street, marchers chanted ‘Who killed our loved ones – the police!
‘Who killed our loved ones – the state!
‘Who are the murderers – police, immigration officers!
‘Who covers them up – IPCC!
‘Who lets them off – CPS!’
Speaking at the rally opposite Downing Street, Mark Duggan’s aunt Carol Duggan said: ‘Our children are still being murdered.
‘Mark’s death was not an accident, it was planned.
‘It doesn’t just stop with the police.
‘This has got to stop, what will happen next?’
Pointing to Downing Street, she added: ‘This is where the buck stops, here in this building.’
She concluded: ‘We need more people, they are still murdering our kids.’
Maria Schofield, the mother of Anthony Grainger, told the crowd: ‘We’re here to stop the police from murdering our children.
‘I will fight to get this murdering scum off our streets.’
The sister of Kingsley Burrell alleged: ‘He was murdered by police.
‘He was sectioned under the mental health act. In a few weeks he was dead.’
The mother of Seni Lewis warned: ‘It can happen to anyone.
‘My son had finished his masters degree.
‘He wasn’t feeling well so he went voluntarily to hospital.
‘He wanted to leave but they wouldn’t let him and they called the police.
‘Fourteen came and he was restrained in a room.
‘He was put on life support and then declared brain dead 25 minutes later.
‘I don’t want to come back here next year and find other people have died.’
Earlier, News Line spoke to some of the families before they set off from Trafalgar Square.
Dawn Spiller from Fishersgate, near Brighton, said: ‘This is our first time here.
‘My son Billy Spiller accidentally took his own life in Aylesbury Young Offenders prison.
‘It was a cry for help on the 5th November last year.
‘He was asking to be put on constant watch.
‘He was telling the staff what he was going to do but they ignored him.
‘No one really knows, but we think he slipped.
‘We think his death was preventable.
‘He asked for healthcare in the morning.
‘Apparently, he had hit the wall and smashed his hand up.
‘We want answers, the truth would be nice.
‘People with mental health problems shouldn’t be in Young Offenders prisons.
‘Staff are not trained to deal with mental health.
‘We want to stop this happening to others.’
Jason Thompson’s mother, Dot Thomas, told News Line: ‘Jason was 26 years old when he died. He was arrested for stealing a packet of bacon in 2004.
‘He didn’t and that charge was dropped but during his arrest they said he bit a policeman on his shoulder and caused criminal damage to the policeman’s car.
‘The person who stole the bacon, Luke, was so concerned he refused bail in court.
‘This was because Jason was injuring himself in the court cells.
‘The medical person in the court said Jason wasn’t fit to plead.
‘So they sent him to Swansea Prison to be assessed.
‘His social worker told Jason’s stepfather he would get the help he needed in prison.
‘On going to prison they put him on watch.
‘Jason attempted suicide six times.
‘After the fifth attempt, a number of people in a room decided to take Jason off suicide watch.
‘I have a note he wrote to the warder saying he feared for his life.
‘He died on Monday 1st November 2004.
‘On the previous Thursday, I got a phone call from Jason saying the psychiatrist who was supposed to assess him hadn’t been to see him – he sounded agitated.
‘I was trying to tell him his solicitor would be visiting the next day but somebody cut him off.
‘That was the last I heard from him.
‘The psychiatrist saw him on Friday. He told her he was going to kill himself but she didn’t tell anyone, just noted it down.
‘I just think it’s disgusting that they didn’t take Jason seriously.
‘He wasn’t a violent person.
‘I just want them to admit they did wrong.
‘The inquest found for accidental death in a narrative verdict.
‘It’s time something was done about the system.’
The sister of Sean Rigg, Marcia Rigg said: ‘I’m here to support all the other families in solidarity who have lost loved ones at the hands of the state.
‘It’s important that we share our experience together and remember our loved ones.’
She continued: ‘The IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission) are conducting reviews into the death of my brother Sean since the damning inquest verdict.
‘The family welcome these reviews and hopefully criminal charges will be brought against the officers involved in Sean’s death.’
Natalie Kayongo from Chingford told News Line: ‘We’re here because of our friend Seni Lewis who died two years ago.
‘He was restrained by eleven police officers.
‘He was in a psychiatric unit and the nurses called the police.
‘We feel the nurses shouldn’t have done that.
‘In any case, the police have a duty of care and should know how to restrain people without killing them.
‘We want justice and the police to be accountable.’
Joan Mackie from Oxfordshire said: ‘My son Dorian Robert Mackie died on the 25th August 2008.
‘He was not previously known to mental health services at all.
‘He had complained to the council about noisy neighbours.
‘Someone phoned the police. It wasn’t my son.
‘The police called at his house. They twisted things and said my son was hearing things.
‘The police called a young woman who was a friend of the neighbours and my son.
‘She lives in another town but the police persuaded Dorian to go with her, to leave his own home at 1am.
‘She wanted Dorian to go to hospital and she was told if she phoned the police in the morning they may be able to take him to hospital.
‘She later phoned the police and told them Dorian had a knife.
‘My son has it on record he never did have a knife.
‘The police came to her house and arrested him even though he didn’t have a knife on him.
‘He was asphyxiated in the hospital.
‘At the inquest the coroner said it probably wasn’t an accident and there wasn’t enough proof in law to give a verdict of suicide, so he gave a narrative verdict.
‘That was he thought Dorian had killed himself.
‘My view is he should have come back with an open verdict.
‘I don’t think that the coroner collected the evidence properly.
‘If he had done so, I believe there should have been a murder verdict.
‘I visited my son hours before he died and he was covered in bruises. They were cruel to him.
‘It was appalling the way he was treated, it was criminal.’
Saqib Desmukh from the Justice for Habib Ullah campaign, said: ‘Habib died whilst being arrested by police in High Wycombe in 2008.
‘When things like this happen, a family’s life is put on hold.
‘We’ve had an IPCC investigation and an inquest that collapsed because it was revealed that the police had changed their statements.
‘We’re here and we’re proud to stand with the other families.
‘We want justice and for the police officers to be properly investigated.
‘There are big questions to be asked about the judicial system that protects police and security officers when they kill people.’
