Met Hits Out At 'Disgraceful Behaviour' Accusation

The London Metropolitan Police have hit out at an accusation by a London Newspaper that they had not provided officers for comment after the family of a murdered man complained about their treatment.

The article 'Met treated my family disgracefully after officers killed Mark' from Monday's London Evening Standard, claimed the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) did not respond to the reporter's calls. However, the MPS say the article is inaccurate.

According to the article, Pamela Duggan – the mother of son Mark who was shot by police last August - attacked Scotland Yard for the "disgraceful" way it treated her family after police shot her son dead.

Pamela Duggan, 53, said the Met's response to her son's death last August - which is believed to have led to riots that spread from Tottenham across Britain - had made her family's pain and distress much worse.

Commander Mak Chishty said he had met with the family of Mark Duggan on behalf of the MPS and apologised to them directly and via a public statement for the distress caused to them, especially around the way in which his parents became aware of his death.

Immediately after the shooting, the Duggans say they were so ill-informed that the father-of-four's sister Kay, 38, drove to Central Middlesex Hospital near Ealing, believing Mark had been taken there alive by air ambulance, only to find it was an injured firearms officer who had been transported.

Meanwhile, the IPCC admitted making a mistake when it initially said Mr Duggan had fired at police, when tests showed he had not.

The MPS said a new protocol between the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the police on communication is being developed with the aim of providing greater clarity in future.

The MPS added it will be publishing a final report into the disorder shortly, which will include a detailed account of events.

(DW)