Coalition Raise Alarm Over Attempts To Weaken Police Accountability

10 February 2025

A coalition of organisations supporting victims of police violence are urging the Home Secretary to reject changes proposed by the police which threaten to reduce the level of scrutiny faced by officers involved in deaths and serious incidents.  

INQUEST, alongside other specialist organisations including Liberty, Centre for Women's Justice and the United Friends and Family Campaign (UFFC), have written to Yvette Cooper to raise concerns about the ongoing Home Office Review examining the legal tests in two Supreme Court cases, which could reverse crucial decisions on police use of force and unlawful killing in inquests.

The letter highlights the concerns of families bereaved by police-related deaths and stresses that the changes under consideration would not only fail to address the real issues within policing but would also undermine public trust and allow police officers to avoid accountability. It is expected to report by the end of February.

The review was announced in October 2024 following the reaction by, and pressure from, police officers and their representatives to the criminal investigation and prosecution of the Metropolitan Police officer Martyn Blake, who fatally shot Chris Kaba on 5 September 2022.

Since 1990, only one serving police officer has been convicted of manslaughter and none for murder. Despite this, 2023/24 saw a 10% increase in police use of force and the highest number of police-related deaths for nearly a decade.

Read the full open letter here.

Susan Alexander, mother of Azelle Rodney, said: "Police officers repeatedly act as if they are above the law. But when they use force or kill, they must be held accountable like anybody else.

It has been a long and emotional two decades since my son Azelle was killed by the police. Campaigning for answers and accountability has had a profound effect on my state of mind, my work, home, social and family life.

We families engage in so many agonising processes to try and ensure that no one else has to go through what we’ve been through. What use are the countless recommendations that have come out of these if they are simply left to gather dust?

Seeing the police and their representatives now once again invest their energy to try and weaken the ways in which we can hold them accountable is an insult. Instead, imagine how many lives could be saved and families spared if they focused on implementing change and listening to us families rather than continuing to shut us out." 

Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, said: “This review is a cynical attempt to shield the police from accountability and protect them from the rule of law. Police do not have a license to kill.

Despite persistent claims from the police lobby that police officers face too much scrutiny, we know that in reality officers rarely face consequences for their criminality and wrongdoing. 

Rather than undermining important legal protections without any clear evidence base, the focus should be on ending police violence and racism and ensuring the harms of policing stop.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

For further information, interview requests and to note your interest, please contact Leila Hagmann on 020 7263 1111 or [email protected].

Read INQUEST, Police Action Lawyers Group, Inquest Lawyers' Group, StopWatch, and Centre for Women’s Justice full submissions to the review here.

Relevant Supreme Court rulings

• In 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from the officer, known as W80, who fatally shot Jermaine Baker, and ruled that the civil law test on the use of force applies to police conduct decisions. Media release.
• In 2020, the Supreme Court decided that the standard of proof for all conclusions at an inquest, including unlawful killing and suicide, is the balance of probabilities. Media release.

CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS OF POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN DEATHS

Since 1990 there have been 1,916 deaths recorded by INQUEST in or following police custody or contact. In that time only one on duty police officer has been found guilty of manslaughter in 2021, and none for murder.

Dalian Atkinson, 48, died on 15 August 2016, following use of force by officers of West Mercia police. PC Benjamin Monk was found guilty of his manslaughter, and was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021. More information.

In total there have been 12 murder or manslaughter prosecutions brought relating to on duty police officers, including the prosecution in the Dalian Atkinson case.

The eleven other murder and manslaughter charges did not result in guilty verdicts. They include:

• Chris Kaba, a 24 year old unarmed Black man, was fatally shot by Martyn Blake, a firearms officer from the Metropolitan Police on 5 September 2022 in Streatham, London. Martyn Blake was found not guilty of Chris’ murder in October 2024.
• Azelle Rodney was fatally shot by a Metropolitan police officer in 2005 during a hard stop in North London. Following the public inquiry into the death, which found the officer did not have a lawful justification for killing Azelle, the officer was prosecuted with murder. In 2015, that officer was found not guilty by a majority verdict.
• James Ashley was fatally shot in his bedroom by police in 1998 in St Leonards, East Sussex. PC Sherwood was charged following an investigation into the death. Four other Sussex officers were charged with other offences. In 2001, the trials collapsed and no officer was found guilty of any criminal charge.
• David Ewin was fatally shot by police in Barnes, London in February 1995. The Metropolitan Police officer who shot him was found not guilty of both the murder and manslaughter of David in 1997. It was the third time the officer had faced trial, after previous juries failed to reach a verdict.

Prosecutions have also been brought following deaths in police contact under Health and Safety legislation.

Other criminal charges against officers, such as perjury and misconduct in public office, have been brought following deaths in custody, but most have led to acquittals or not guilty verdicts.