The police watchdog has cleared armed officers of any wrongdoing over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, saying it is likely he was in the process of throwing away a handgun when he was shot.
Duggan, 29, was shot twice by police after the minicab he was in was stopped by officers in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011. His death sparked the worst riots in recent times in cities and towns in England.
Following a three-and-a-half year investigation, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) called for urgent improvement in the accountability of police operations after it found that a lack of audio or video material made it impossible to know with certainty exactly what happened.
It recommended that all radio communications taking place during undercover firearms operations should be recorded and covert armed response vehicles should be fitted with in-car data-recording systems.
The IPCC said the “most plausible explanation” was that Duggan was in the process of throwing away a weapon when he was shot twice in rapid succession by an unnamed officer. The firearm was found on a grassed area about four metres from the cab.
Last year an inquest jury found that Duggan had been “lawfully killed” and that he had not had the gun in his hand when he was shot but had thrown it away. The majority verdict angered Duggan’s family.
