Hickman & Rose client Marcia Rigg has issued a public response to the unprecedented apology she received from the IOPC about the way it (and its predecessor the IPCC) handled the investigation into the death of her brother Sean Rigg in Brixton police station 15 years ago.
Interim Director of the IOPC Tom Whiting apologised for the delays in the original investigation into Sean’ death, and also for “all of the IPCC’s delays thereafter”. He also apologised for “not giving proper consideration to informing you at an earlier stage of a civil claim brought against the IOPC by some of the officers investigated following the death of your brother.”
Supported by the charity INQUEST and Hickman & Rose’s head of civil litigation Daniel Machover, Marcia Rigg has spent the past 15 years fighting to establish the truth about her brother’s death, and to achieve accountability for it.
Marcia said she appreciated these apologies and trusts that the IOPC will consider “informing families and complainants of any similar compensation to officers by the IOPC as a matter of course, as a courtesy and in the wider public interest.”
Daniel said: “The IOPC needs to go beyond this unprecedented and very welcome apology. It needs to unequivocally support Marcia Rigg’s call for the end of prolonged prone restraint.
“We see a consistent failure in current cases to critically examine and thoroughly investigate police officers use of force, whether resulting in death or serious injury. The message now being sent to serving police officers by the IOPC seems to be ‘don’t worry, we’ve got your backs’.
“How that helps to promote the independence of the IOPC, ensure accountability and enhance public confidence in the police complaints system is a mystery to me.”
The IOPC’s published apology and background statement are here and here. Marcia Rigg’s full response to the IOPC’s apology and statements from Deb Coles of INQUEST and Daniel is here.
