Mark Duggan’s family has won the right to challenge last year’s coroner’s court verdict that he was lawfully killed when he was shot dead by an armed police marksman known only as V53.
The 29-year-old father of six, who was shot in Tottenham, north London, on 4th August 2011, was ‘executed’, insists his aunt Carole Duggan.
In a ruling released on Tuesday, a High Court judge said it could be arguable that the ‘lawful killing’ verdict cannot stand because of alleged errors the coroner made when he directed the jury about the law.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Mitford granted limited permission for a judicial review, saying: ‘The coroner’s direction to the jury about the conclusion of lawful killing was arguably inadequate in two respects – it failed to make clear to the jury that they must conclude, on the balance of probabilities, that:
‘• V53 did honestly, even if mistakenly, believe that Mark Duggan held a gun in his hand immediately before he was shot.
‘•If V53 had that honest belief and it was mistaken, the mistake must have been a reasonable one for him to have made.
‘The coroner’s direction did not address either of these questions. If it should have done, it is, in consequence, arguable that the conclusion of lawful killing cannot stand.’
Mark Duggan’s brother, Shaun Hall, said: ‘The day we walked out of the high court after the jury returned a verdict of lawful killing it was as though Mark had been killed all over again as far as the family was concerned.
‘Today’s permission to judicially review the coroner’s directions to the jury is a glimmer of hope for us that maybe we can still get justice for Mark. We know we still have a long road ahead but today we are a step nearer to getting justice for Mark.’
•The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is to consider whether criminal charges should be brought against two arresting officers after a man died in custody.
Sean Rigg, 40, who had schizophrenia, died at Brixton police station, south London, in August 2008.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigated evidence from Mr Rigg’s inquest and has given its findings to the CPS.
The investigation relates to two Metropolitan Police officers.
