4th October 2017

Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST said,         
                         

“This verdict will further add to the disquiet and lack of confidence of bereaved families and the public in the mechanisms for holding the police to account for criminality and wrong doing. Kingsley was a vulnerable man who was restrained in a brutal and terrifying way resulting in his death in 2011. It is difficult to reconcile this outcome particularly in the face of the inquest evidence and conclusions.

"The fact that a criminal jury decided this case is welcome, and itself justifies the prosecution, but the case was infected by delay at all stages and this outcome must be seen in that context. In the future such prosecutions must brought promptly when the evidence is fresh and not subject to prolonged delay.”

 

ENDS