Month: August 2014

Support a Black Man whose ribs were cracked by Territorial Support Group

Tuesday 2nd September 2014, 09.30am

Venue:
Inner London Crown Court
Newington Causeway
SE1 6AZ
nearest stations: Elephant & Castle, Borough

FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/941431605882452/

On Monday 23rd June 2014, D, a black man from Brixton, was assaulted by police officers from the Territorial Support Group. The officers had seen D stop his car moments earlier to speak to his Uncle, and chose to interpret this chance family encounter as something sinister. In the course of a “search” they attacked D and his cousin, a passenger in the car, kicking D multiple times when he had already voluntarily gone to the floor and put his hands out to be cuffed. D was arrested, strip searched, and held in Brixton police station for almost 24 hours. The police attack left him with bruises and a cracked rib. (More details here)

When the police were unable to find anything illegal on D that could possibly justify the search, let alone their violent attack, they charged him with assault on a police officer. This has now been reduced to “obstructing a constable during a drug search,” a lesser charge but one which still carries a possible unlimited fine and 2 years of imprisonment.

D would greatly appreciate your support at his next case management hearing, at Inner London Crown Court on 2nd September at 9.30am. We will meet outside the court with banners, and will be present in the public gallery during the hearing. We must let the police and Crown Prosecution Service know that we are watching them in D’s case, and in every other instance of police brutality in London!

A’s case adjourned again – a brutal form of punishment in itself

On the 14 August, LCAPSV attended City of London Magistrates court to support A, a member of the campaign, at her latest court hearing for the charge of ‘willful obstruction of the highway’. This charge dates from January of this year, when A was arrested while peacefully protesting outside Downing Street and imprisoned for four days.

A was expecting to be formally tried at this hearing, the previous hearing on the 31 July having been adjourned due to the Crown Prosecution Service’s failure to disclose the necessary evidence to A’s legal team. However, once again, the CPS had failed to comply with the court’s directions and disclosed crucial evidence only once the trial had begun, leaving A and her legal team no time to examine the evidence before the proceedings began. Furthermore, when the CPS eventually handed over the relevant CCTV evidence – some 35 minutes into the hearing – it emerged that an important twenty minutes of footage were missing, for which the responsible police officer had no adequate explanation. As such, the case was adjourned until the 9th December. This means that A’s case will drag on for 11 months. This stretching out of the legal proceedings constitutes a brutal form of punishment in and of itself, as the mental and physical strain such a process puts on people is immense.

In spite of all of this, A is resolute and remains determined to fight against her racist criminalisation. LCAPSV will continue to support A in every way we can and will be in court supporting her on the 9th December. More details will follow closer to the time.

Crown Prosecution Service – charge the killers now!

On 6 August, we stood in solidarity with the family members of Sean Rigg, Habib Ullah, Leon Patterson and many others as they called on the Crown Prosecution Service to deliver justice. The United Families and Friends campaign is a coalition of those affected by deaths in police, prison and psychiatric custody. UFFC said:

The Crown Prosecution Service is charged with inaction. Last week charges were brought against the officer who shot dead Azelle Rodney in 2005. Why did his mother, Susan Alexander, have to wait nine years for that officer to be charged?

Many other families whose loved ones died in custody, are still waiting for the CPS to make a decision. The standard response in recent years has been ‘ not enough evidence to prosecute’ – but this is not good enough.

Crown Prosecution Service – charge the killers now!

You can see pictures from the picket by clicking the Storify link below:

[View the story “United Friends and Family campaign picket” on Storify]