[Badgirlz-list] Police Violence in Britain

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Author: Errata
Date:  
To: badgirlz-list
Subject: [Badgirlz-list] Police Violence in Britain
> >
> > This article is sent by BLINK (Black Information

Link), website of the
> 1990 Trust.
> >
> >
> > Cops sick joke
> >
> >
> >

=======================================================
> >
> >
> > DAMNING NEW CCTV footage showing cops cracking

jokes about the death of
> Christopher Alder has infuriated his grieving

family.
> >

=======================================================
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Christopher Alder: choked on his vomit and blood

while cops stood
> around chatting.
> >
> >
> > The previously unseen video nasty features a

policeman making the
> 37-year-old ex-paratrooper the butt of an April fool

joke.
> >
> > An officer is seen throwing one of Mr Alder’s

teeth onto the floor. It had
> become broken earlier as he was dragged into the

custody suite.
> >
> > A policeman is heard describing Mr Alder as a

foreign national after his
> death while another jokingly pretends to be a local

reporter making a phone
> call enquiring about his death.
> >
> > The new footage has come to light as the Alder

family anxiously await
> results of a Home Office review into how

father-of-two came to die on the
> floor of a Hull police station on 1st April 1998.
> >
> > missing
> >
> > A BBC documentary in April last year broadcast

other CCTV film from the
> Queens Garden police station showing Mr Alder

gasping for breath while cops
> stood around chatting.
> >
> >
> > A CCTV image from Hull police station (above) and

a re-enactment as
> broadcast on the BBC last year. Now new footage has

come to light.
> >
> >
> > In the latest CCTV footage of the custody suite,

the day after Mr Alder
> died, an officer picks up the phone and pretends to

be a reporter from the
> Hull Daily Mail.
> >
> > He said: “I hear that you had a death in custody

earlier. April fool,
> man. Is it anybody I know?”
> >
> > The crime officer who went into the custody suite

after Mr Alder died
> described him as foreign, saying: “We have got a

foreign national here.”
> >
> > The recordings are part of 162 hours of footage

sent to Mr Alder’s family
> by West Yorkshire Police.
> >
> > His sister Janet Alder was outraged by the

revelations: “It’s absolutely
> disgusting that so many people in high places can

deal with something so
> horrific and so racist and they all decided to go

along with the line of
> lies.”
> >
> > She said of the description of her brother as a

foreign national: “He
> (Christopher) were born and brought up here and he

fought for this country.
> He was a paratrooper. How dare they?"
> >
> > motionless
> >
> > On the tape one officer is heard to say, in a

sarcastic tone "Oh I had a
> real death in custody. It’s a hard life."
> >
> >
> > Janet Alder: how dare they mock my brothers death.
> >
> >
> > Ms Alder said: “What it shows is that everybody

who’s been in that place
> thought it was a big joke.”
> >
> > In the BBC documentary last year, Mr Alder was

seen being dragged
> motionless into the custody reception and left on

the floor, hands
> handcuffed behind his back with his trousers around

his knees.
> >
> > For the next eleven minutes loud rattling, rasping

noises could be heard
> as he struggled for breath, choking to death on

blood and vomit.
> >
> > Following the horrific broadcast, former Home

Secretary David Blunkett
> ordered a review into the case, which is expected to

publish its findings in
> February.
> >
> > farce
> >
> > But Ms Alder, who has had to give up her job

during her eight-year
> campaign for justice, said she was not confident she

would get justice.
> >
> >
> >    Have Your Say
> > She said: “At the end of the day we have said this

review was a farce.
> They never wanted to get hold of the police

officers. It’s an attempt to try
> and close the door.”
> >
> > A spokeswoman from the Independent Police

Complaints Commission, which is
> undertaking the review on behalf of the Home Office,

said: “I realise it’s
> been terribly difficult for the family for eight

years.
> >
> > "I don’t think anyone can comprehend what they’ve

had to go through. The
> review is very thorough and it will be submitted to

the Home Secretary.”
> >
> > Ms Alder has also had to face the disappointment

of having two civil cases
> she brought against the officers being closed down,

which she blamed on
> “pressure from above not to take the cases forward.”
> >
> > negligence
> >
> > She has taken out proceedings against the Crown

Prosecution Service over
> its mishandling of the case against the officers.

Ms Alder believes the CPS
> charged the officers too early so that officers

evaded questions at the
> inquest on the grounds that they were due to give

evidence at a trial.
> >
> > When it came to the trial itself, the CPS charged

the men with gross
> negligence and manslaughter but then went on to

collect negative evidence so
> the trial never progressed beyond halfway.
> >
> > Ms Alder added: “The CPS denied any racist

evidence. When found, they
> never took it seriously. They didn’t show the

intention of racism. Otherwise
> they would have been convicted."
> >
> > Her case against the CPS is due at London Central

Court in December but
> she accused prosecutors of trying to strike out her

case. Civil cases taken
> out by Mr Alder’s sons may be settled out of court,

meaning that the
> officers will not face court.
> >
> > An inquest into Mr Alder’s death, in August 2000,

was reduced to farce
> when the officers each gave a 'no comment' answer to

dozens of questions.
> The inquest returned an unlawful killing verdict.
> >
> > Sergeant John Dunn and police officers Neil

Blakey, Mark Ellerington,
> Nigel Dawson and Matthew Barr were cleared of

manslaughter and misconduct in
> 2002.
> >
> > The trial judge directed the jury to find them not

guilty due to
> conflicting medical evidence over Mr Alder’s cause

of death.
> >
> > The officers were later retired on ‘medical

grounds,’ with huge payouts.
> Campaigners believe the trial collapsed because the

Police Complaints
> Authority failed to conduct an adequate

investigation and collect evidence.
>



        
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