Injustice
February 2003 – 98 mins

10:01:04:08-10:01:17:01
Narration: Midnight. 16th of December 1994. Shiji Lapite is walking home. He is stopped by two police officers. 30 minutes later he is dead.

10:01:23:01-10:01:45:05
Crowd at demo: Shiji's killers (repeat)
Shiji's children - No Christmas. Shiji's killers.

10:01:45:06-10:02:11:23
Crowd at demo: Shiji's baby, no Christmas
Shiji's wife. No Christmas.
One month old baby. No Christmas. 2 year old baby, No Christmas.

All we want - justice. When do we want it - now .

10:02:15:08-10:02:35:18
Olamide Jones: I never thought I could find myself in such a situation, you know. At that time I didn't know what to think because I just had my baby as well,he was only six weeks old. I couldn’t really digest the thought of him dying you know.

10:02:46:03-10:02:56:16
Olamide in police station: One man in the police force killed him and if you can wake him up i will go. If you can wake him up. You didn't create him.

Policeman: Can I ask you....

10:03:02:23-10:03:22:24
Olamide: They beat him to death. They beat him to death. They killed him, why should they kill? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

10:04:05:14-10:04:36:18
Speaker at Shiji Memorial: I Think as we stand here today reflecting on his memory we should spare a little thought as well, on wondering on how many other occasions has black people gathered on a few square feet of paving stone, to try and come to terms with the way that one of us has actually lost our lives. Stoke Newington Police Station has a horrendous history and Shiji Lapite is an addition to that terrible list.

10:04:38:16-10:04:51:17
Narration: In January 1983, seventeen year old Colin Roach was shot in Stoke Newington police station. The shock of his death led local people to set up a community centre in his memory.

10:04:54:07-10:05:15:12
Graham Smith: The first case it took up in earnest was in January 1989 and it was running about two cases a week that were reported to the organisation of violence by Stoke Newington or Hackney police officers that’s covering two divisions of the Metropolitan Police.

10:05:19:15-10:05:42:14
We' re talking about commonly a low level of violence which is a punch in the face, or arm twisted up behind the back, one kick or something like that, where a police officer may forget himself at best or at worst has actually deliberately assaulted a member of the public.

10:05:43:00-10:06:01:04
Graham: Pamela Simms’ whose mother Aseta Simms was killed in the old Stoke Newington police station in May 1971 will now lay a wreath in memory of all the people who have suffered and died in police custody over the years.

10:06:25:00-10:06:28:17
We will now have a further minute’s silence.

10:06:42:08-10:06:52:10
Narration: Brian Douglas was born in Balham, South London on the 29th of October 1961. He was one of six children.

10:06:58:10-10:07:17:19
Brenda Weinberg: Growing up with Brian was fun. He was always more gentle of all of us compared to Peter who was younger Brian usually took on the role of the youngest one. He was a premature baby and we all said that my mum, my mum had him as her favourite.

10:07:18:23-10:07:32:09
Peter Douglas: My dad had me when he was fifty. We used to work a lot hard you know, we used to work hard believe you me before we went to school in the mornings we'd work hard, and yeah. It was tough but it was good you know.

10:07:33:17-10:07:44:20
Brenda Weinberg: He liked the usual things, Brian did, as a young man going out partying. He'd got on well with people, that he was a people person it was hard not to like him

10:07:47:07-10:08:07:11
Rochelle: I met Brian in the early eighties when he was introduced by a friend of mine in a club, and it just went from there, we just sort of hit it off. And I used to see him at different places, different venues where I used to go out, wine bars. He was like the life and soul of the party really.

10:08:12:14-10:08:48:11
Brenda Weinberg: For Brian to get ready to go out you' re talking you know sort of 9 o' clock at night and I' d come home from work from nursing, night duty or finished an evening shift and I' ve come in and the house would wreak of aftershave or, and this was Brian in his getting ready mode. You know probably a glass of wine and he loved heat he loved warmth so that the house was just baking hot and he's there with the music going and he' s getting in his party mood and the shirt would be pressed and the trousers would be creased and the shoes shined and that was that was Brian.

10:08:48:12-10:09:07:04
Rochelle: We used to go out nearly all the time together. We’d go to the gym together, to the cinema, wine bars. He’d meet me from work, went Jamaica a couple of times on holiday - that was great. We used to do everything together really.

10:09:08:01-10:09:35:05
Brenda Weinberg: Together with a friend of his called Sidney they really got into boxing and wanted to promote young boxers and I mean as a teenager he always loved sport and it was just sort of a natural thing for him to now gravitate to something like boxing which he enjoyed. We grew up with Mohammed Ali and sitting around watching that as a child and my father was a real enthusiastic person about that.

10:09:40:16-10:09:56:21
Peter Douglas: He done lots of things like football, boxing. He was a boxing promoter. I done the boxing actually, but he was the boxing promoter. He was into the football, into his music. He used to keep a lot of dances you know, he was full of life man.

10:10:01:03-10:10:29:22
Narration: Midnight 2nd of May 1995. Brian and his friend Stafford are driving along St.Lukes avenue. They are stopped and searched by two police officers, Mark Tuffey and Paul Harrison. During the incident the officers use batons on the two men. Stafford suffers a broken wrist and Brian a blow to his head. Brian is held in Kennington Police Station for 15 hours before being taken to hospital.

10:10:32:19-10:10:55:12
Peter: When I went in, I can remember seeing Brian and the state he was in. I just knew something was serious you know. This ain' t normal. This ain' t you know...I grew up with Brian. We grew up together so I know him you know, and I knew something was terribly wrong, you know what I mean. It was serious.

10:10:55:13-10:11:15:18
Donald Douglas: I was in I think Manchester the night before so I got the details on the Sunday if you like, and went up to the hospital and saw him in what seemed to be a critical conditions with tubes and all kinds of implements, in a sense emanating, from from his body,

10:11:15:19-10:11:19:01
Brenda Weinberg: By the time I got there he was in the Intensive Care Unit.

10:11:29:17-10:11:37:00
Donald Douglas: During the four days that he was in hospital I mean he had an enormous number of visitors.

10:11:37:01-10:11:49:24
Peter Douglas: It was packed. It was packed with a lot of people. My main sort of like thing that bugged me was the activity, too much activity and he was conscious.

10:11:50:00-10:11:57:16
Rochelle: Well he just said he had a headache and he was just in a lot of pain. And he wanted to sleep.

10:11:57:17-10:12:23:12
Brenda Weinberg: Rochelle was there at the hospital and her mother and Peter and Donald and my sister Andrea and half sisters Gene and Yvonne and I mean we were all there. In times of crisis we are a family that rally and everybody was there.

10:12:39:18-10:13:10:14
Peter Douglas: The clearest things he said to me is that he wanted to go home, he wanted me to take him home. Yeah he pointed to me and he said like "Take me home, take me home" those were the actions he done you know, and I can remember the time like I said "You can't go home Brian you gotta stay here", and I remember we hugged him, you know cos he wanted to get up and go, and I sort of like hugged him and held him down sort of like, and I said "No you can't you gotta stay here, you gotta get better man".

10:13:17:16-10:13:28:17
Narration: Brian is slipping in and out of consciousness. He has suffered a brain stem injury as a result of a severe blow to his head. His skull is fractured.

10:13:35:20-10:14:01:01
Brenda Weinberg: He was lying there he was on a respirator he was on monitors and tubes everywhere to me Brian was dead already and the nurse in charge of him was aware that I was a nurse and whatever and she showed me his chart and she said look you know and so I said to her it's time to call my mother, my mother needs to be here because he wasn't going to wake up. It was a question of time.

10:14:04:15-10:14:18:24
Narration: At 3.20 am on the 8th of May, 5 days after being struck by the police officer, Brian is declared clinically dead. His body is taken away from the family. Brian’s mother arrives from Jamaica.

10:14:19:01-10:14:39:17
Brian's mum: It’s an awful feeling. I fly how many thousand miles from Jamaica to come here when I hear the news. I don’t know, it’s a hard road to travel. It’s a very very hard road to travel.

10:14:41:18-10:15:07:00
Brenda: But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. Suddenly shall they be wounded, so they shall make their own tongues to fall upon themselves. All that see them shall flee away, and all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God, so they shall wisely consider of his doing. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust in him and all the upright in heart shall glory.
10:15:07:01-10:15:17:07
Crowd: Make some noise. Make some noise.

10:15:20:17-10:15:35:12
Brenda Weinberg: The first protest we had was days after Brian had died it was a Sunday. By this time my mother had arrived and as you can imagine people were angry. People were so angry.

10:15:50:08-10:16:24:25
Donald Douglas: And as a family we have no particular experience of being in demonstrations more than anybody else. And we had a lot of Brian's friends that was present on the demonstrations and I think they had as much legitimate right as any family member did to express their anger. And on the other hand you had the police physically trying to block the procession marching down towards Oval, and and and clearly it was it was a very sparky situation indeed.

10:16:46:19-10:17:40:08
We managed finally, to to calm it down by some of the very close friends and family members forming a line between the police if you like and Brian's friends and other relatives who genuinely wanted to continue the demonstration.

In hindsight because you haven't reached a kind of conclusion that you want to you sometime think well I wonder if I wasn't so disciplined and organised and just allow people to go and tear up the situation, and yeah probably in hindsight you know I mean that's the best that could have been achieved at least there would have been a day to remember if nothing else that some property or whatever were destroyed and that day represents if you like the death of Brian, and as it happens I mean that didn't happen because we prevented it.

10:17:51:18-10:18:06:15
Narration: The police begin their internal investigation at the scene of the incident. PC Tuffey claims that he hit Brian on the shoulder and that the baton slid up. Brian’s family begin a door to door search for witnesses.

10:18:07:14-10:18:48:17
Brenda: There were several witnesses that actually saw the blow to Brian. There was a young man that lived in an attic Paul Vivien who had a perfect view of everything that was going on as far as he is concerned Tuffy turned and made an over arm blow so there's nothing that can slide up the blow is coming from over arm that was the strongest force you can use cos the whole strength of your body is in a blow that's delivered in that way so to me it wasn't an accident, it wasn't, it wasn't even defence that was an attack blow.

10:18:48:18-10:19:05:06
Donald Douglas: We managed to generate a number of witnesses that certainly in our mind shed considerable light, and without a doubt provide in our mind evidence that the police officer was clearly responsible for the death of my brother.

10:19:10:18-10:19:26:24
Narration: The family obtain copies of the police officers notebooks. They send them and the witness statements to two eminent barristers. The barristers confirm a legal opinion that police constables Tuffey and Harrison should both face charges of manslaughter.

10:19:26:25-10:19:39:04
Demo crowd: The Metropolitan Police are murderers. The Metropolitan Police are murderers. PC Tuffey is a murderer.

10:20:39:10-10:20:56:14
Brian's mum: I just want peace and tranquility. Lets go on to the park and end this demonstration in peace. I am a mother that is asking for peace. I thank you all.

10:21:01:13-10:21:35:07
Narration: Brian's family continue to demand legal action against the two officers. At the same time the trial of three police officers charged with the manslaughter of Joy Gardner ends. The 40 year old mother of two suffocated to death in July 1993 when police put her in a body belt and wrapped surgical tape around her head to gag her. The officers are found not guilty of the charges. Joy’s mother continues her campaign for justice.

10:21:35:08-10:21:39:20
Woman: I would like to introduce Myrna Simpson to say some words.

10:22:01:00-10:23:52:10
Myrna Simpson: It’s been a long struggle, it’s been a lot of pain for me and my family and for Graeme. It’s been heartaches, especially these last four weeks that I have been to the court you know, sometimes I break down in court. I couldn’t take what I was listening to. I couldn’t believe that human beings could be so cruel to another human being. You know it makes you cringe to hear - as a mother - of what they did to my daughter in that sitting room - her sitting room. These people, all of them that were in the room, they tape up me daughter, see the tape here. This is the tape, this is the tape - 13 feet of this - look up this, people. This is the tape they put on her, 13 feet of tape. They taped her, they tied her up, bandaged her and then taped her. What kind of people are these? These people are evil. They are evil, wicked murderers. They are evil people, 13 feet of this tape. How can somebody live, how can somebody live after using this on your face - on your face?
We’ve got to fight against them. People, please help me. I’m begging you because it is not easy. You don’t know the pain, you don’t know the suffering, you don’t know how I’ve cried. My tears will catch them. My tears will catch them.

10:25:20:02-10:25:40:15
Narration: As Shiji is buried Brian's body is still held in the morgue two months after his death. The family want an independent pathologists report but are initially denied access to the body. They are also denied access to his medical records and only get these after going to the High Court


10:25:40:18-10:26:13:01
Donald Douglas: Here we have a situation where a man's died and that man's got family, and the family is trying it's best to look after it's best interests. To make sure that things are done properly, and rather than the state engaging in some kind of partnership with that family and saying "OK we understand you're grieving this is happening to you how can we actually assist you in this process" what we have is the state blocking the process consistently all the way down.

10:26:13:02-10:26:33:11
Brenda Weinberg: We had to make a decision as a family do we bury him now that we've actually got access back to his body with his brain or without his brain? In the end we had to go ahead and bury him with, as far as I'm concerned, the essential part of him missing because they still kept his brain for further investigations

10:28:02:08-10:28:22:05
Narration: 5th of December 1995, 4 months after Brian is buried, Wayne Douglas is arrested for burglary. Witnesses see police repeatedly hitting him with batons. Wayne later dies in Brixton Police Station.

10:28:22:06-10:29:06:07
Mans voice: Donald Douglas, brother of Brian Douglas, give it up..

Donald: It makes me sad to be out here again tonight when I think about it and recognise that the police have a plan for us black people. On the 16th of December last year them killed Shiji Lapite over in Stoke Newington, on the 8th of May this year them killed my brother and we’re still waiting for the results. And way down in December they kill another brother, Wayne Douglas. Less than 12 months them kill three black man, no police be arrested, no police been suspended, no police been charged. I tell you, they have a plan for us.

10:29:06:08-10:29:34:03
Donald Douglas: Lots of people took the view that here was Brian Douglas family who, and Brian died in May, and their family is being co-operative. Taken all the way through the judicial process, and they had or were getting nothing from that process. Well if that don't throw doubt in anybody's minds about the potential outcome of another black guy dying in police custody well I don't know what else.

10:29:34:04-10:29:41:22
Man: The Police right now are telling us that we should not march, that is why we have to march

10:29:54:02-10:30:04:03
Crowd: Murderers, murderers.

10:30:49:03-10:31:12:06
Donald: Obviously it led to a catastrophe really in terms of shops being broken, cars being broken. But it clearly got the message home if you like because in a in a sense none of our demonstrations hit the front page of the paper quite to that extent so it almost seems that if you're gonna be listened you have to go and break up and burn something down or something.

10:31:17:01-10:31:57:20
Sajida Malik: With any campaign where you have a death in custody there's always lots of rumours and myths, and spoilers. The last three or four deaths in police custody within days of their death you begin to hear negative things about them, either they were mentally ill, they were drug dealers, they're criminals, and automatically that cuts off the sympathy, and I think the police do that. That's a purposeful strategy on their part to focus on all these so called negative elements whether they're proven or not and in a way in Shiji's case it didn't matter whether the drugs were on him or not as soon as they were linked to his name he became the Nigerian drug dealer as opposed to the Nigerian father of two, or the Nigerian asylum seeker, and that was it, media interest was pretty much shut down

10:32:11:21-10:32:40:04
Narration: Olamide waits to find out how her husband died. The police complete their internal investigation. The Crown Prosecution Service, who are responsible for taking legal action, decide not to prosecute Paul Wright and Andrew MacCullum, the two officers involved in Shiji's death. The family is denied access to information from the investigation and are forced to wait for the inquest to find out what happened.

10:32:47:10-10:33:00:06
Narration: Wright and McCallum arrive. They are represented by lawyers and barristers paid for by the Police Federation. Until now the officers have declined to answers any questions on the incident.

10:33:04:01-10:33:25:11
Narration: The two officers give their statements. They say that they followed Shiji by car as he walked down the street. That he was acting suspiciously and placed something near a tree. They claimed they found crack cocaine where Shiji had stopped. They arrested Shiji who resisted them.

10:33:25:13-10:33:48:05
Raju Bhatt: On the officers account one of them grabbed Shiji by the neck while the other is struggling to bring him down to the ground, and eventually all three end up on the ground with Shiji either face down or on his side, with one officer still around his neck in one way or another.

10:33:48:06-10:34:14:18
Sajida Malik: Shiji was presented as almost a stereotypical way in which any black man who has ever been killed in custody has been presented. It was as if they just read the file and said that's what we're going to do. I remember one officer said he was the biggest, strongest most violent black man he'd ever come across and then a few minutes later we had the Home Office pathologist saying that actually he was five foot ten and medium build, whereas the officers had described him as six foot one and this kind of ferocious animal.

10:34:14:19-10:34:38:22
Raju Bhatt: One of the officers describes kicking Shiji in the head as hard as he could to try and free his brother officer from the strangle hold, and of course throughout on and off, Shiji's neck itself is in a neck lock applied by one of these officers.

10:34:40:00-10:35:01:08
Sajida Malik: I remember one of the key witnesses said that he was upstairs in his room and he heard these terrible screams and those were his words as if someone was being really hurt and he'd run downstairs in a panic and he said he saw a black man being carried in to the back of a van and he said his head was lolling around, and it seemed to him from that point that the man was dead.

10:35:01:09-10:35:26:20
Raju Bhatt: Upon the post mortem examination of Shiji's body some forty odd areas of injuries were found from head to toe. The significant areas of injury being crushed bones at the front of the neck around the voice box, and bruises to his back,

10:35:26:21-10:35:36:10
Sajida Malik: The suggestion was that he'd been punched, and kicked and pulled for quite a period of time. The officers said that they had done that because he was so violent, and it was in self defence.

10:35:36:11-10:36:11:24
Raju Bhatt: The most serious injury found on either officer was the bite mark on one officer around the shoulder. That was the officer who had held Shiji in a neck lock and you would think that the bite mark was at the place where one would expect if Shiji had been struggling for life in the last few moments of the neck lock. And the other officer had a scratch at the tip of a fingertip.

10:36:12:00-10:36:30:08
Olamide Jones: I felt bitter about it, I felt really really bitter about it because nobody was there with them. It was late in the night and only these two policeman can really tell us what happened but they weren't telling the truth. Everybody knew they weren't telling the truth.

10:36:33:00-10:36:43:19
Narration: The inquest jury retires to consider the evidence. Shiji's family want a verdict of unlawful killing so that Wright and Macallum will be prosecuted.

10:36:44:19-10:37:13:01
Sajida Malik: We'd just literally stepped outside and I remember talking to Olamide and some of the other press there and they called us back in, can't have been more than twenty, twenty five, half an hour at the most. And we were saying, “Oh god it was it's too quick, it's too quick. They've definitely gone against us.” They would've, cos we felt that for an unlawful killing verdict they'd really have to argue it out. And then they stood up and said, it was a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing.

10:37:34:24-10:38:19:20
Olamide: I thank almighty God, I also thank all the legal representatives, the campaigners, families and friends. Although this week has been very traumatic for me and my family, having sat in court and heard for the first time after one year how my husband was killed, and heard how the officer kicked him in the head twice as hard as he could, how they beat and killed him in under thirty minutes. At this juncture I am relieved that my children are gonna grow up to learn that their father was unlawfully killed by the police. I also hope at this point that CPS considers their decision not to prosecute the two policemen in question. Thank you.

10:38:36:09-10:38:43:18
Narration: Ibrahim Sey lived in East London with his wife and daughter. The couple were celebrating the birth of a baby girl.

10:39:00:05-10:39:13:22
Amie Sey: If you don't know him you would say "This guy doesn't know himself because he's quiet and he's shy" but if you know him you will know he's a simple guy, very easy going guy

10:39:30:14-10:40:02:20
Kura Jagne: With me and him we were sort of like sisters and brothers, really. He confided in me and I confided in him. He was talking of studying law. And I said to him “You know do you think you could manage to actually study law it takes about five years to actually do the whole course" and he says "I need to do something in my life and I need to know that my children will be secured in the future"

10:40:06:24-10:40:36:04
Narration: One evening Ibrahim is shouting and throwing things around at home. His wife Amie is worried about him because he had suffered a mental breakdown 4 years earlier. She telephones the police for help. She is frightened of Ibrahim’s behaviour and jumps out of a window. The police arrive. Ibrahim comes out peacefully and is taken with a friend to Ilford Police Station. Amie, injured from her fall, is taken to hospital.

10:40:38:03-10:41:47:03
Kura Jagne: A senior officer and a police woman came in to the ward, basically sat down and said there was a bit of a scuffle. That is how he said it, there was a bit of a scuffle, in which Ibrahim was involved and I am sorry to tell you that Ibrahim has passed away. And that's how we were told. I said "What?" "I am sorry to tell you he’s passed away. He died this morning". I just collapsed on the floor. I just collapsed screaming. When, Amie couldn't understand neither and I was saying "He's dead. He's dead."

10:41:47:04-10:42:02:05
Amie Sey: The time they told me that I couldn't believe it because what I was expecting is, like, he will get up in the morning and come and visit me in the hospital, you know, to say sorry about what happened in that night.

10:42:02:06-10:42:58:10
Kura Jagne: They also said to us his body is opposite Amie's ward if we want to go and see his body and I turned round and I said. "How can you put the body opposite Amie" I said. "Isn't that a bit careless” and he said "Yes but she has to identify the body being the wife". He was badly bruised on his forehead, you could see the bruise you could see it stood out a lot from his skininside his nostrils were black, completely black, like a liquid form and on his stomach there was a few marks there. Basically he looked like he'd been in a fight.

10:43:04:07-10:43:11:15
Crowd: We want justice. We want justice.

10:43:11:16-10:44:03:17
Kura: The reason behind this demonstration is to get justice for Ibrahim Sey who was killed by the police last week. And it was unnecessary force they was using and they used CS gas which was not necessary because he went peacefully into the police station. So this is the question we’re asking now, why was he killed? And why was CS gas used on him? Because he was a peaceful man - he went peacefully, he wasn’t a violent man anyway and he had a witness, his friend was with him to the very end. So we’re asking the question why use CS gas on him, was he a guinea pig, was he a pig because he was the first one to be used with CS gas - just like Douglas with the baton? That’s the question we’re asking. Yes and why so much force, so many police around? Why were there so many police around for just one man, do you understand? That’s what we are asking, that’s the questions we are asking today, and by God, we’re gonna get the answers one way or the other.

10:44:03:18-10:44:23:01
Alieu Sey: I feel very bad about this thing. All the family. It’s the most worst nightmare in my entire life, is what happened to my brother. Because I don’t think he deserves to die this way.

10:44:30:03-10:44:52:09
Kura: Amie was in a world of her own Amie had lost total about two stone in weight. She couldn't believe it. She was, had a new born baby, six weeks old. I think it was even hard for her to breast feed, there was not much milk left,

10:45:03:16-10:45:09:08
Amie Sey: I was just there, I was just there.

10:45:15:11-10:45:47:21
Crowd at demo: Allah-U-Akbar (God is great)

10:45:47:22-10:46:05:24
Kura Jagne: It was just something that I never expected to happen, to me or anyone around me. You only hear these things on the news but you don't hear it in your own back yard, sort of thing, you know that was my attitude. But when it hit me it really hit hard.

10:46:07:06-10:46:41:06
Kura: We really need to get justice, because this is not the first death, it’s the fifth death within less than one year and it is very suspicious because Ibrahima, as he laid dead, is having marks on his body, on his head, under his eyes, his lips is cut, why? All these questions we should ask. Why was CS gas used on him? Why? So I’m asking everybody if we could really think about this deeply and come together. It will take time, maybe one year, maybe two years, who knows? But it’s time for us to say no more, especially in the black community.

10:46:48:04-10:47:06:11
Donald Douglas: Since we last came to the Crown Prosecution Service they’ve announced that they are not going to be prosecuting the two officers responsible for my brothers death. We’ve returned here today again to protest against that decision, but obviously in the long term we hope to take out a private criminal prosecution.

10:47:06:12-10:47:08:06
Interviewer: Were you surprised by the decision?

10:47:08:07-10:47:25:18
Donald Douglas: Yes, we were extremely surprised by the decision given the amount of information and evidence that we’ve managed to accumulate, extremely surprised that they’ve made the decision they have. We’ve got two QC Counsels advice which indicate that they should have prosecuted.

10:47:25:19-10:47:38:00
Donald Douglas: Numerous cases has gone to the Crown Prosecution Service, and behind closed doors they take a political decision that it is not in the state interests to take this case forward.

10:47:38:02-10:48:13:07
Brenda Weinberg: At the time we were gutted, we were absolutely devastated but a part of us was not surprised because we couldn't actually see the British Judicial system saying "Yes, hands up we are going to prosecute these police officers", don't forget Brian wasn't the first to die in custody there'd been others before Brian and there's been others since and the the game plan by the judicial system is generally the same that doesn't change much either. It's usually insufficient evidence and you know sorry your loved one’s dead but get on with your life.

10:48:22:05-10:48:45:01
You could get on with grieving you could get on with having a life if the system did it's job, but the minute it doesn't your life is then taken over it's then channelled because it has to be down this road. It's not an either or situation you have no choice the system has let you down so you have to step in and intervene.

10:48:47:20-10:49:56:21
Donald: Today represents one year to the day of my brother’s death. He came to this police station and was incarcerated for 15 hours without medical treatment, despite suffering severe injury as a result of a police action. We’re naturally very disappointed that the crown prosecution service has determined that they will not be charging the officers responsible who are situated in the building behind us. We are, however, determined as a family that we will see this through to a conclusion and the only realistic conclusion we feel, is that we see the officers in a court in front of a jury facing relevant charges in relation to, to my brother. We feel this is the only mechanism that will insure the future deaths of this kind won’t occur. All too often we’ve seen that there is a police culture, that leads police officers to believe anything they do, they can get away with. We are determined to break the yolk of that culture.

10:49:56:22-10:50:02:16
Brian's mum: They will not know and they can’t understand the pain.

10:50:02:17-10:50:03:11
Brian's sister: And the loss

10:50:03:12-10:50:05:18
Mum:And what we have gone through

10:50:05:19-10:50:08:06
Sister: They’ve ruined our whole family

10:50:08:07-10:50:14:07
Mum:My whole life is been ruined, the rest of my life that is left is ruined.

10:50:14:08-10:50:16:16
Interviewer: So what would you like to see happening?

10:50:16:17-10:50:21:18
Mum: I just need justice, I need to see these policemen to be charged..

10:50:21:19-10:50:24:18
Sister: ....with the murder of my brother.

10:50:27:15-10:50:34:09
Narration: As Brian's family contemplates their next legal move Shiji's campaign begins a search for witnesses.

10:50:36:01-10:51:05:09
Sajida: Just across the road over there, that’s the restaurant from which Shiji left on the night that he died. The zebra crossing over there is the last time that one of his best friends saw him when he was alive, and literally, as he walked around this corner, he must have been stopped by the police and 30 minutes later he was dead. Both the cafe and the taxi firm where a lot of Shiji's friends worked have been closed down and, you know, seems like this area is trying to purge itself - or the police have tried to, you know, get rid of everything which is associated with Shiji's death.

10:51:08:24-10:51:28:22
Sajida: We are doing a witness search. We are hoping that now that we’ve got the unlawful killing verdict and people actually know what happened to Shiji Lapite, they might be more willing to come forward and actually help us with the case. So one and a half years on, we’ve been really surprised that so many people remember it like it was yesterday. Everyone is aware of it, everyone’s talking about it in the context of "Oh, the guy that the police killed.”

10:51:33:16-10:51:44:16
We need an eyewitness that can clearly say, that he saw those officers do those things that resulted in those injuries in Shiji, so that we can actually have them prosecuted for, you know, basically the murder of Shiji Lapite.

10:51:47:16-10:51:59:12
Narration: As the families continue their campaigns the police complaints authority, which supervises the police’s internal investigation into deaths in custody, respond to increased public concern.

10:52:00:00-10:52:16:00
PCA spokesperson: We are involved with the Association of Police Surgeons in a major piece of research, aimed at deaths in police stations, trying to identify causes and trying to come out with proposals, which will again reduce the numbers of these deaths.

10:52:16:01-10:52:36:11
Peter Douglas: Police investigating. What do you mean the police investigating the police or the PCA? Oh they’re a joke. They've never ever prosecuted a police officer before so I mean it’s pointless even discussing them you know. They’re supposed to be disbanded. They ain't no use.

10:52:43:08-10:53:11:02
Narration: Brian's family arrive at the inquest to hear the police officers account.

In their evidence the officers claim that Brian had attacked them with a knife and a CS gas canister. PC Harrision was in front of Brian and hit him on the arm with his baton. As Brian moved backwards, away from Harrison, PC Tuffey, who was restraining Stafford, turned around and struck Brian with his baton.

10:53:12:01-10:53:31:11
Brenda Weinberg: One thing that was interesting, the two officers both stated that Brian had been hit on the side of the neck and the baton had slid up and caught him below the neck but nobody actually admitted that there was a blow to the head.

10:53:31:12-10:54:03:20
Peter Douglas: Well Tuffey, Tuffey said that he hit him on the shoulder and the baton slid slid up and hit him on the side of the head, and like the evidence clearly showed that he was hit on top of the head, like with x amount of force you know which shouldn't be administered to anybody. I mean much less on top of your head or even your head. And he was made to look a liar cos he didn't hit no shoulder he hit head.

10:54:03:21-10:54:24:08
Brenda Weinberg: As far as they're concerned the blow stopped there and to this day, even with they're own pathologist speaking against them and saying where the blow landed, it had to have landed above Brian's ear and to the back of his head, they still maintain that it slid off his shoulder and ended up somewhere here.

10:54:24:09-10:54:53:16
Donald Douglas: There were no witnesses that substantiated the police views that he had one article or another article of some type or whatever in his hand. There was no witnesses that supported that the police officer that hit him was defending the one that was in front of him, because clearly he was walking backwards. I mean that's the real tenet if you like of the evidence whether he was attacking somebody or whether he was retreating from somebody and was walking backwards from a police officer when he sustained a severe blow.


10:54:53:17-10:55:11:16
Brenda Weinberg: And another way they described it was of the equivalent of him falling eleven times his own height on his head so you can imagine the force of coming down that was the force poundage if you like behind the force of the blow.

10:55:11:17-10:55:27:23
Donald Douglas: It's absolutely clear that the officer was blatant, malicious and clearly the net effect of his actions created the death of my brother and I don't know what else you could call it but murder.

10:55:28:18-10:55:53:00
Stafford Soloman: How the fuck did I get these injuries then? So how did I get all these injuries then? The same person that done Brian’s autopsy, checked me. He said one thing about black people right, when we bruise, we don't get bruises, we have lines that come in our bodies.

Voice: Lesions. Lesions.

Stafford: He said I can see where we've been hit.

10:55:53:04-10:56:09:00
Narration: The evidence piles up against the two officers. It then emerges that the inquest jury come from Eltham, an area known for racist violence. When they return a verdict of misadventure there is uproar in the court.

10:56:09:17-10:56:21:13
Peter Douglas: The whole thing is like mind boggling it's mind boggling, because everything states like unlawful killing, you know, clearly.

10:56:21:14-10:56:29:13
Brenda Weinberg: Misadventure is a lawful killing. These police officers were justified in taking the life of my brother.

10:56:38:17-10:56:49:17
I remember asking the lawyer, our lawyer at the time, to ask the judge to give me back my brother's brain and don't let me have to come and get it.

10:57:10:19-10:57:46:03
Police Superintendant: This has also been a very distressing time for the officers involved in the arrest of Mr. Douglas and their families. The actions of the officers have undergone in-depth scrutiny by the investigation immediately instigated by the Metropolitan Police Service and supervised by the independent Police Complaints Authority, by senior lawyers of the crown prosecution service and by this inquest.

10:57:57:16-10:58:26:20
Interviewer: Did the family get a fair chance?

Rochelle’s mum: No way, no way.

Brenda: No. We didn’t get a fair chance - the system isn’t fair. 15 months till we get to that day to have them turn around and insult us. My brother has not died in vain, as far as I’m concerned, cos we will fight every court in this land. I will not stop, I haven’t stopped from the beginning and I’m not stopping now.

Rochelle's mum: And we’ll be there to the end

Brenda: That was my blood, my mother brought him into this world and no policemen in a uniform has the right to take his life. None.

10:58:26:22-10:58:36:18
Woman at demo: Murderer, you murderer, you kill off people, innit? Then you stand up there. You murderer, you look on me you cheeky fuck.

10:58:37:08-10:58:52:21
Donald : The respond from people has been tremendous, we had tremendous support of Brixton, the campaign continues to have considerable support, cos people are angry, they got no more trust or faith in the system at all and we will do this and continue to do this until we’re listened to.

10:59:04:07-10:59:14:08
Donald: Here we are out to a public meeting and he’s got a camera. What are we? Hooligans or criminals?

Policeman: Not at all

Donald: So what’s he doing? What’s he doing?

Policeman: What we’ve got is a potential....

10:59:16:01-10:59:30:17
Donald: So what you do - you take them in advance, you take them in advance, right? You take us in advance, we’re out here to a public meeting, get an invitation to a public meeting and then he’s out here with a camera.

10:59:26:12-10:59:41:00
Peter: After the verdict you came straight outside our house. After the verdict your big van came outside our fucking house. What for? What for? You’re taking the piss aren’t ya? You’re taking the piss man.

Policeman: Think about it.

10:59:41:01-11:00:20:09
Peter: Think about it! What do you mean? I said I was at my house and a big van came with all, a blue fucking bullet proof vest and then it stopped right outside the house, what for? What is that, intimidation, what is that? It’s the same day as the verdict, what is that? It was four o’clock.

Policeman: Let me try to...

Peter: Don’t taklk stupidness man cos something's gonna happen.

Policeman: We’ve tried to be sensitive

Peter: Tried? What, to come to our house?

Policeman: We deliberately tried to be sensitive

Peter: What? Did you deliberately come to my house?

Policeman: I don’t know about the van coming to your house.

Peter: You don’t know, but it’s your police force isn’t it, it’s your police force isn’t it?

Policeman: Certainly, I’m responsible.

Peter: Alright. Alright.

11:00:20:10-11:01:10:11
Man singing:
Police, police
If I box you down, box you up
kick you down, kick you up
punch you down, punch you up
cuff you with me baton and draw your blood
hurt your pride
tell me will we get along
would we, would we get along
lord have mercy
police, police, answer, answer.

11:01:15:00-11:01:50:20
Kura Jagne: For me waiting for the case to come up and the results to come up was frustrating. What kept me going and being in the media, or being in the public, was that he'd died and somebody killed him and we need to the know the answers, because you cannot take a person’s life just like that without giving us the truth and that's we wanted to hear, the truth.

11:02:09:08-11:02:46:22
Kura in the street: In the past six months they've been doing their inquiries you know, and we've been campaigning and we've had a few confirmations that, like he was handcuffed when they actually sprayed him and that the person has sprayed him was only on desk duties and basically we've had no contact with them, they've never come to see Amie about anything you know, and we're just quite angry the way the situation has gone. And it's just like they keep delaying the process nothing has come out, you know, we keep saying we want an answer now and we haven't got an answer and I don't think it should take this long to have an answer.

11:02:56:07-11:03:14:21
Brenda Weinberg: There's no book written there's not a handbook out there, there's nothing written down to guide you through this process, and it's just a quagmire of legalese that you don't understand that you wade through. The authorities don't want to help you they want you to go away, like, yesterday.

11:03:20:09-11:03:38:09
Narration: Even though the inquest jury gave a verdict of unlawful killing on Shiji's death, no criminal charges were brought against the officers. Shiji's family goes to the High Court to challenge the decision. The judges order the crown prosecution service to reconsider the evidence.

11:03:39:09-11:03:42:10
Interviewer: What are the chances now, do you think, of these police officers being put on trial?

11:03:42:11-11:03:59:11
Raju: Well, that we have to wait and see. The focus is on the Director of Public Prosecutions. There has to be a will to ensure that police officers are brought to account when they are seen to be committing wrong.

11:03:59:12-11:04:17:23
Sajida: We are feeling good about the decision today - it’s taken three years for the family to get this far. Obviously we are not gonna give up yet, we still want the officers to be prosecuted for the murder of Shiji Lapite. But it’s a positive first step, it’s a pity though, that the family has to come all the way to the High Court in this country to even begin to get any semblence of justice for their death.

11:04:18:11-11:04:27:15
Narration: An inquiry into the Crown Prosecution Service is launched. The Director of Public Prosecutions Dame Barbara Mills later resigns.

11:04:28:00-11:04:41:07
Narration: The police investigation into Ibrahima's death is complete. The CPS decide not to prosecute the officers involved. The family have to wait for the inquest to hear the police officers account of the incident.

11:04:46:15-11:04:56:11
Narration: Ibrahim is taken to Ilford police station with his friend Paa. He is reciting the Quran. On arrival at the station the police van doors open.

11:04:57:21-11:05:19:03
Paa Nbimbalan: Ibrahim came out, starting to recite the Quran, reading Quran the whole time. They way the police did it, they made a queue to a blue the door in the police station that the time I got out, I know exactly that these people wanted us to get into that door.

11:05:19:04-11:05:44:23
Kura Jagne: A police officer approached Paa and he said he can't go with him, he should go and wait in the office area but Paa said "Let me go with him, he's not well" and Ibrahim turned round and insisted that he came with him. Within that time an officer had pounced on him

11:05:44:24-11:06:17:03
Paa Nbimbalan: This police officer rushed Ibrahim, grabbed him on his arms, I was split with him, like this, they screened me with their hands. So I could see through that Ibrahim was smashed on the ground, right. The hands were onto his neck, I could hear that he was choking because I’ve been seeing everything. Then he shouted to me and said “Paa, you see what they are doing to me? You see what they are doing to me?” In my language, three times. That was the last I heard from him.

11:06:20:06-11:06:28:07
Kura Jagne: One was holding the leg, another one another leg and one was holding his back near the lungs.

11:06:28:14-11:06:38:13
Narration: Ibrahim falls to the ground twice and twice he is picked up. One police officer asks whether she should use CS spray and is told not to.


11:06:38:24-11:07:30:10
Kura: As he’s been brought up a third time the trigger happy policewoman decides to spray him. Not even at the length that she should have sprayed him, which there's a certain, according to their law or their rule book you should spray six feet away or something, it wasn't done. They sprayed him. Yeah according to an officer, or most of them because it seems that every body had the same story, that he was actually enjoying the spray. He was licking it with his lips. He was actually enjoying the taste.

11:07:37:03-11:07:59:04
Narration: Ibrahim is taken into the custody area where he is placed face down on the floor by 4 officers who keep him restrained for 15 minutes. They notice he has difficulty in breathing. An ambulance is called. On arrival they find Ibrahima still handcuffed and face down. He is dead.

11:08:02:22-11:08:19:04
Kura: It's just like they treated him like an animal, it was nothing. He wasn't worth it, he was just another piece of meat to them, you know. And it’s sad. It’s a sad sad, sad situation, you know. Yeah.

11:08:20:13-11:08:26:17
Narration: After six weeks of evidence the jury give their verdict on what happened to Ibrahim in the police station

11:08:27:00-11:08:56:18
Kura Jagne: We got the answer of unlawful killing, manslaughter. As that verdict came in I sort of jumped up in the air and sort of said "Yes, yes, yes" three times, putting my fist in the air and then I sort of turned to the police officers in anger and I said "You bastards".

11:09:06:14-11:09:33:20
Journalist: Mrs. Sey, could you come just forward and say something to us?

Amie: Yeah, I’m really happy about what’s happened today. Anyway, I was expecting this, because since day one, the time that I heard he’d died, I know they are the people that killed him. Since day one I know the police killed him. He was only a sick person. What he needed was just to take him to hospital, not to kill him. I believe this anyway, it’s not a surprise for me.

11:09:34:00-11:09:36:04
Man: Have a drink, just raise the glass. Chears!

11:09:50:12-11:09:57:20
Kura: ...the truth about the night that he died, you know, he knew. His spirit is resting today. Yes.

11:09:57:22-11:10:25:11
Kura: It was like we’d won something for Ibrahim, he'd gone, but not in vain you see. So, I was happy for that verdict, definitely. But I wanted more. I wanted somebody to pay for his death. I wanted somebody to go to jail and answer for his death.

11:10:30:05-11:10:46:16
Narration: The first recorded death in custody was that of David Oluwale in Leeds. On the night of 18th of April 1969 David was seen being chased along a river bank. His drowned body was found days later.

11:10:49:14-11:11:28:16
It then emerged that two police officers, Inspector Geoffrey Ellerker and Police Sergeant Mark Kitching had assaulted David before he died. The Oluwale case went to trial and other police officers testified to the brutality that Ellerker and Kitching had inflicted on David over a number of years. The judge did not allow the jury to consider a verdict of manslaughter. The officers were found guilty on 9 separate charges of assault on David. This was the first and last time that officers have ever been convicted of charges relating to a death in custody.

11:11:33:21-11:11:44:17
Narration: Two and a half years after Brian's death his family go to the High Court to try and overturn the inquest verdict of misadventure. The judges refuse.

11:11:46:07-11:12:20:14
Donald Douglas: On on a personal basis I do feel betrayed by the criminal justice system. I feel betrayed of the politics that exist in the criminal justice system. During the process you met one or two very positive productive individuals, productive individuals in the police force that felt their hand was tied and they couldn't do nothing. Productive individuals within the kind of Crown Prosecution area that felt their hands were tied and they couldn't do nothing, and so many of the decisions that was being made was political.

11:12:20:15-11:12:33:24
Brenda: We shouldn’t be here today, appealing the inquest verdict. The verdict that should have been given at the time should have been unlawful killing and here we are two and a half years down the line seeking that. That’s a travesty of justice.

11:12:34:10-11:12:41:16
Interviewer: What does it do to you when you keep putting faith in judicial reviews and the inquest system, how does that affect you personally?

11:12:41:17-11:13:12:22
Brenda: It churns you up, it upsets me. As I said previously, Brian will be no less dead 10 years from now, 15 years from now, 20 years from now, you know, and someone, somewhere along the line, and that individual knows who he is, has got to answer to that. You can’t kill a man and walk away from it and the court supports you. And that’s obviously what’s been happening. Two and a half years years down the line they’re saying ”Yes, PC Tuffy, it’s OK to kill a man in cold blood and walk away scotch free.”

11:13:15:23-11:13:32:18
Narration: On the 1st of April 1998, Christopher Alder aged 37 and father of two children is taken into Queens Gardens police station in Hull. His arms are handcuffed behind his back. He dies face down on the charge room floor.

11:13:35:23-11:14:01:00
Narration: As the deaths in custody go on another policing issue hits the national headline.18 year old Stephen Lawrence had been stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in 1993. The Lawrence families campaign for justice for Stephen leads to a public inquiry which exposes racism within the police but the issue of deaths directly at the hand of police officers is ignored.

11:14:01:01-11:14:43:14
Myrna: My daughter Joy was killed by the police and immigration about three or four months later than Stephen. I have campaigned, I have talked, I’ve begged and nothing has been done about it. But I’m not giving up the fight - I’m still fighting, I’m still fighting. I’ve been to universities, I’ve never known that I could even talk, I couldn't talk before, I was a very shy person.

11:15:22:16-11:15:24:13
Interviewer: Do you think this is going to damage you?

11:15:24:18-11:16:24:03
Myrna: Yes, it’s a hurt to me, I was shocked when I heard this morning. I couldn’t believe, I was in shock, you know and it’s not nice. It’s just terrible. After yesterday, yesterday was the 5th anniversary of her death and then today, to hear this news. It’s very very sad for me and for my family - it’s terrible. God make everybody with a soul and a heart but some people haven’t got anything, they are not even human beings, I don’t know what they are. I have to keep fighting my dear, just keep fighting. God will give me this strength to fight.

11:16:24:04-11:17:07:14
Church: Singing

11:17:10:05-11:17:23:22
Narration: Over a year has passed since the inquest jury's verdict of unlawful killing on Ibrahim Sey. The Crown Prosecution Service decide, once again, not to prosecute the officers involved.

11:17:24:20-11:17:53:09
Kura Jagne: So basically what they're saying is the jury, it's a waste of time having a jury in a court, because what ever they say were going to overturn it anyway. So it's a waste of tax payer's money to be sitting on a jury. That's the way I am seeing it because why should they overturn the jury's evidence of manslaughter. Why? They should answer why?

11:17:53:10-11:18:15:04
Amie Sey: I hate police. This is in me. Every time I pray for God not to have any contact with police, every time. This is what I pray for God every day because I can't stand officers. I can't stand them at all. I can't. I hate them really because what they did to my husband. I hate them.

11:18:21:12-11:18:32:22
Narration: The family campaigns unite and form their own organisation. The Police Complaints Authority hold a conference on deaths in custody but exclude the families.

11:18:34:01-11:18:55:02
Man at PCA conference: Some of these points may seem self evident, but I believe you can often loose sight of them in discussion of such an emotive subject. A death in custody can have a profound impact on community confidence in the police. In particular there’s wide concern, particularly in the black community, about the deaths of black people in police custody.

11:18:55:24-11:19:03:24
Myrna Simpson: What is the conference about?

Girl: It’s about deaths in custody.

Myrna Simpson: Yes my daughter died, right.

Girl: I know, I know, I know

Myrna Simpson: And that’s the reason why I want to go there.

11:19:09:10-11:19:31:18
Minkah Adofo: We have an absolute right to be coming into this place. You’re talking about deaths in custody, to be excluding the families is absolutely outrageous. So we’re here now to come in to this conference, and I want to know what you’re saying about it. We’re not just talking about abstract names, we are talking about people who has actually murdered, their families have a right to be here, you understand me?

11:19:33:04-11:19:50:22
Crowd: Let them in, let them in.

11:19:51:00-11:19:58:18
Policeman: All right, she’s allowed in.

Crowd: Yeah

11:20:10:09-11:20:25:07
Journalist: Are you hoping to speak to the conference today?

Myrna Simpson: Yes

Journalist: What will you be saying to them?

Myrna: Just tell the truth. What happened to my daughter, I would like justice for my daughter that was brutally killed.

11:20:30:10-11:20:57:09
Brenda: We should have been the first choice in that conference today. We shouldn’t have to beg and demand to be heard. We will not be forgotten, they killed our loved ones, it takes us long enough to be able to bury them and then they want us to put them to rest and go away. I’m here today to tell them that we will never ever go away. 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, my brother and others out there are gonna be no less dead and we’re the family that survived are never ever going to go away.

11:20:57:10-11:21:24:24
Brenda Weinberg: To date there is no police officer that has been brought to book for for a death in custody. That if an incident happens they're secure and safe in the knowledge that (a) they wont get suspended they won’t lose any pay, there is no disciplinary action and they have a licence to kill and walk. So they’re safe. And until that situation changes deaths in custody will carry on

11:21:26:19-11:21:47:10
Narration: 11th of January 1999. Roger Sylvester a local council worker is restrained by eight police officers outside his home. He sustains numerous injuries during the arrest which leaves him in a coma on a life support machine. Seven days later Roger dies.

11:21:59:22-11:22:20:22
Male voice: We need to establish the truth as quickly as possible as to how Roger - a fit and healthy 30 year old man - came to a horrific and premature death after being detained by the police. Thank you

11:22:36:00-11:23:14:23
Roger's mum: I have a card he sent me on my last birthday, September gone which I will read out to you. The card says: To Mum, this is to let you know that I love you very much, I appreciate all the things you have done for me. “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me.” St. Johns chapter 14, verse 1. Have a happy birthday with lots of love and kisses. I’m praying that you may have many, many more. From your son, Roger.

11:23:27:24-11:24:54:24
Brenda: I look around this room and see so many familiar faces and I offer the family my sympathy and my condolences. This was me sitting up there nearly three years ago when Brian Douglas was murdered, I am the sister of Brian Douglas. The faces I see are so familiar and the words that I’ve heard this family express are so familiar. The way you had to wait and make a decision to turn the machine off is so familiar. You lived it, I lived it - it’s not easy. I’d also like to take this opportunity for what it’s worth, to invite a member of the family on April the 12th to visit Mr. Straw. We’ve arranged this meeting, he’s agreed to give us half an hour of his precious time. We need some answers - we deserve some answers. This is time, as you say, that we are paying for. We elected this man. When they were in opposition - they came to us, my family, and offered us words of condolences etc. etc. Now that they’re in power we want to hear what they’ve got to say, what they've got to do and what changes they’ve got to make because this situation is happening time and time again. I can’t believe I’m standing here listening to another family go through what I went through and many others went through. Thank you.

11:25:01:23-11:25:27:10
Minkah Adofo: We can make all the appeals that we wanna make to the authorities but at the end of the day, if we ourselves do not organise as a community - organise to defend ourselves as a community - to make these police know when they kill one of us, one of them is gonna pay. We’re gonna keep on coming back to these kinds of meetings.

11:25:27:11-11:26:04:13
Minkah Adofo: We have a situation at this moment in time in which a, a jury can a bring back a verdict of unlawful killing. We've got a so called Police Complaints Authority, who as far as they're concerned there's nothing really wrong with that. Black people have got to stand up, and progressive white people need to stand up, and say there is definitely something wrong with that. I think that there is more and more need to highlight this human rights violation, because its seems to me, for many people, the life of a black person is not really worth very much.

11:26:19:22-11:26:43:22
Song at funeral: Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine. We’ll understand it, all by and by. Father alone will know all about it.

11:27:34:00-11:28:07:13
Narration: With Roger buried, his family as well as the families of Shiji Lapite, Orville Blackwood, Brian Douglas, Kenneth Severin, Joy Gardener, Leon Patterson, Ibrahim Sey and Wayne Douglas meet the Home Secretary and demand a public inquiry into the deaths from the government. During the meeting the Home Secretary promises reforms of the, now discredited, Police Complaints Authority but rejects the families demand for an inquiry.

11:28:10:18-11:28:53:05
Brenda: He certainly knew of us individually and our cases I don’t think he appreciated was the similarity between all our cases and the fact that we are not prepared to tolerate it anymore. Any change that comes within two to three years time, which is some of the time span he gave for the PCA. As far as every single one of us here is concerned, is just not good enough. In two to three years time how many other victims will have died as deaths in custody? And we will still be left with the police investigating the police. It’s not good enough. We don’t want change yesterday, we don’t want change next week, we need a change now. Because people are dying - these people belong to us, it is our responsibility to make sure it stops. Thank you.
11:28:53:06-11:28:55:08
Crowd: Okay.

11:28:57:14-11:29:57:22
Brenda Weinberg: Dead is dead it's permanent, it's forever and wanting justice for that death is also forever. It's a forever wanting I will always want it and will never rest until it's achieved. If it's meeting MPs. If it's joining groups or campaigning or fighting or making a damned nuisance of myself. That wanting of justice and eventually getting it is my goal because I can't grieve, I can't put Brian to rest ever, if I know someone's walking around out there responsible for his death and they haven't been brought to justice. The only thing that does happen that as the time gets longer is any kind of justice. It can be legal justice or street justice I don't really care anymore.

11:30:03:22-11:30:23:10
Narration: 4th of August 1999. Sarah Thomas a 34 year old architectural student is chased by two plain clothes police officers who claim she is acting suspiciously. Sarah is taken to Stoke Newington police station where she suffers a seizure and dies later in hospital.

11:30:24:06-11:30:47:16
Narration: The following month Harry Stanley, a 46 year old painter and decorator, is recovering from an operation for cancer. He is walking home carrying a plastic bag with a wooden table leg. The police believe it is a gun. Harry is stopped and is shot twice. Once in the hand and once in the side of his head. He dies instantly.

11:30:50:15-11:31:18:18
Man at meeting: Something is kicking off in a system, a society that says working class people every time we will make them fucking cower. We will keep them down, if we can’t keep them down we start shooting them and that’s the logic that says to me. Stoke Newington police station has got a record as long as your arm on what they’ve done to working class people and as you said, they don’t go to Hampstead to do this, they don’t go down to Westminster to do this. They do this in inner-city areas where people are pissed off but the want to keep a lid on it.

11:31:25:15-11:31:42:14
Narration: From all over the country the families of those who have died in police custody, in prison custody and in medical establishments come together for a remembrance procession. They march on the prime ministers office to demand action for the deaths.

11:33:59:03-11:34:13:05
Crowd: What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!

11:34:13:06-11:34:42:22
Myrna Simpson: It's important for people to to fight for justice and don't stop because there is no other way to get justice but to fight for it, and I am still fighting for justice for Joy and not only for Joy, as I say always but for all. I am fighting for justice for everyone that has been unjustly killed.

11:34:42:23-11:35:06:10
Olamide Jones: Like I've always said from the beginning, if they think they don't owe me an explanation, they owe his children explanations sometimes in future because even if I say I have lost interest now I am sure when the children gets a bit older they will want to find out the truth. Especially the little one that didn't even get to know his dad.

11:35:07:05-11:35:47:11
Kura Jagne: Ibrahim if he was looking down on us now, he wouldn't want, what happened to him to happen to anybody else so I believe he would want a change in the law and the policing in this country. A change in the sense in the law that any police officer involved in a case of manslaughter or murder should go to jail.

11:35:47:13-11:35:59:21
Peter Douglas: I love him and I'll always love him. And we're gonna keep fighting this case. Something will happen about it.

11:36:00:10-11:36:42:20
Brenda Weinberg: One of Brian's last words to Peter his younger brother was “Sort it.” Yes I think that's the last thing Peter heard Brian say was sort it, and I'd like to say Brian we're doing that, we're trying to, we're trying to sort it for you. Because I can't let your death go unpunished and someone has to pay, and that's how deep my vengeance is, and it's there it's not behind a closed door in my heart it's just there. It's got to be sorted cos that's what he wanted, and that's what he deserves.