Europe

Three UK cops arrested for perjury

saberimoghaddam20130329141807447

Two serving and one retired Metropolitan police officers have been arrested on suspicion of lying under oath and perverting the course of justice in relation to the death of a musician in police custody five years ago.

Sean Rigg, a mentally ill black man, died of cardiac arrest after being held in the back of a police van at Brixton police station in south London on August 21, 2008.

The arrests came as part of the Independent Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) ongoing investigation into the custody death, which was started in 2012.

The inquest jury found that police failed to identify the 40-year-old schizophrenic as a vulnerable person and restrained him for eight minutes in the “prone position” while he was being arrested, a length of time that contributed to his death.

All three officers were questioned by IPCC investigators at a central London police station and then released on bail until May.

Deborah Coles, co-director of charity INQUEST said, “We are pleased due process is finally underway, after a battle by Sean Rigg’s family for truth and justice that has been ongoing for nearly five years.”

In August last year, hundreds of campaigners and legal professionals marched for a memorial meeting at Lambeth Town Hall on the fourth anniversary of Sean Rigg’s death in the British police custody.

Back to top button