originally by: The Guardian
published: 26 February 2014
The mother of Mark Duggan, whose fatal shooting by police provoked the 2011 riots, has lodged a legal challenge against the judge who presided over the inquest into her son’s death, which ended with a jury making a majority ruling that he was lawfully killed.
Pamela Duggan is seeking leave for a judicial review, accusing Judge Keith Cutler of acting unlawfully in his directions to the jury in the case.
After hearing three months of evidence at the end of last year, the inquest jury was asked to consider whether Duggan was killed lawfully, unlawfully or whether an open verdict should be returned.
Last month eight of the 10 jurors said Duggan had no gun in his hand when he was fatally shot, but eight of those jurors also ruled that Duggan was lawfully killed by the police.
Cutler was appointed assistant deputy coroner for the inquest.
The Duggan family’s legal team are asking the high court to declare the coroner’s directions to the jury unlawful. They are asking for a court order to quash the lawful killing verdict and replace it with an open verdict. Alternatively they are requesting an order quashing the inquest’s conclusions and ordering a fresh inquest.
