UK: Christopher Alder Review criticises police
01 August 2006
On 27 March the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) published its report into the events leading up to and following the death of Christopher Alder on 1 April 1998, (see
Statewatch vol. 8 nos 3 & 4, no 6, Vol 9 no 5, Vol. 10 no 5, Vol. 11 no 2, nos 3 & 4, Vol. 12 no 5, Vol. 13 no 1, Vol 14 no 1). Criticism of four of the five police officers involved in the events surrounding Christopher's death, who were found to be guilty of the "most serious neglect of duty", were welcomed by civil liberties groups and Christopher's family. The IPCC report also acknowledges that police racism played a role in the death, a fact that has long been highlighted by anti-racist groups who point to the grossly disproportionate number of deaths of young black men in police custody. Family members have expressed their disappointment that the IPCC, as well as successive Home Secretaries, have rejected their call for an independent public inquiry into the circumstances of the death.
Christopher Alder, a 37-year old black man, was injured during a scuffle outside a nightclub in April 1998 and taken to Hull Royal Infirmary for treatment, where he acted in a confused and uncooperative manner, refusing medical treatment. He was arrested for a breach of the peace and taken in a police van to Queens Gardens police station; on arrival he was found motionless in the back of the vehicle. No explanation was ever presented for a number of unexplained features of his journey; crucial blood staining in the police vehicle was cleaned and the presence of mud, found on Christopher's thighs, was never explained. CCTV footage of events at the police station showed that Christopher was dragged to the custody suite and placed face down on the floor. The videotape revealed police officers laughing and joking as Christopher lay dying on the floor in a pool of his own blood and with his trousers around his ankles. Despite his disturbed breathing the assembled police officers took ten minutes to go to his assistance, by which time he was dead.
In 2000, after hearing seven weeks of evidence, an inquest into Christopher's death returned a verdict of unlawful killing and ruled that his death was due to positional asphyxia. The police investigation of his death, held under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority, has been criticised for its incompetence. The INQUEST organisation, which works with families of those who die in custody, described some of the flaws in this investigation:
Failure after failure occurred in the police investigation held under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority. The death was never treated as potential homicide and the custody suite never sealed and preserved as a scene of crime. Crucial blood staining was wiped from the custody area and van. No proper enquiry was ever made as to why Christopher's trousers were around his knees with mud on them and on his thighs. The clothes of the police officers who had been involved with him were not the subject of any examination report and were sent for dry cleaning. The clothes and [a damaged] tooth of Mr Alder himself were destroyed.
Five police officers, Sgt John Dunne and Constables Martin Barr, Neil Blakely, Nigel Dawson and Mark Ellerington were suspended from duty and, after the inquest, faced trial on charges of manslaughter in April 2002. On 21 June, at the end of the prosecution's case, the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the men and directed the jury to find them not guilty. As a consequence of the failure of the prosecution and of the police exercising their right not to incriminate themselves under the Coroners Rules at the inquest the officers have not been required to answer a single question or offer any kind of explanation for the events of 1 April 1998.
As a result of these legal failures, in April 2004 that Alder family called on the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, to hold a public inqui