There have been 12 cases where a police officer has been charged with murder or manslaughter following a death in custody or following police contact since 1990, according to the charity Inquest.
During that time, there have been 1,905 such deaths in England and Wales, including 83 fatal police shootings.
In the 10 years to 2023/24, a police watchdog has carried out 26 investigations into the deaths of 28 people who were shot by police, with criminal inquiries launched in four cases. Of these, two – Jermaine Baker and Chris Kaba – resulted in the officer being charged with a criminal offence.
Before 1990, when Inquest began keeping records, the most recent conviction of this kind was in 1986, when Merseyside police sergeant Alwyn Sawyer was found guilty of manslaughter after kicking and punching retired bus driver Henry Foley, 67, as he lay handcuffed in a police cell.
Of the 12 prosecutions since 1990, only one has resulted in a conviction – West Mercia Police Constable Benjamin Monk, who was jailed in 2021 for the manslaughter of former footballer Dalian Atkinson.
Mr Atkinson was tasered to the ground and kicked in the head in 2016.
The 12 cases are:
– Chris Kaba: Martyn Blake, 40, was charged with murder after he shot Mr Kaba as the 24-year-old drove forwards and backwards trying to force his way between a marked police car and a Tesla parked nearby in Streatham, south-east London, in September 2022.
The Metropolitan Police marksman, who was cleared of murder by a jury at the Old Bailey, said he opened fire because he believed his colleagues were about to die.
– Dalian Atkinson: Benjamin Monk was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter after he kicked Mr Atkinson, 48, in the head, leaving two bootlace imprints, following an “excessive” 33-second Taser deployment in August 2016.
– Thomas Orchard: The 32-year-old died in hospital a week after he was arrested and taken to Heavitree Road police station in Exeter, Devon, in October 2012.
While in custody the church caretaker, who had mental health issues, was restrained and an emergency response belt (ERB) was placed across his face for five minutes and two seconds to prevent spitting or biting.
A custody sergeant and two detention officers were charged with manslaughter but found not guilty following a trial at Bristol Crown Court in 2017. Devon and Cornwall Police force was later fined for health and safety breaches.
– Ian Tomlinson: In April 2009, Ian Tomlinson died after he was hit with a baton and shoved to the ground by police officer Simon Harwood on the fringes of G20 protests in the City of London.
An initial report found that he had died from a heart attack, but this was brought into question when an American tourist sent footage of him being hit and shoved from behind, causing a heavy fall.
An inquest in 2011 found Mr Tomlinson was unlawfully killed by Pc Harwood and that he had used “excessive and unreasonable” force. But when the officer faced trial at Southwark Crown Court in 2012 he was cleared of manslaughter after a jury accepted his account that he believed he was using reasonable force.
– Azelle Rodney: Met Police marksman Anthony Long opened fire on suspected armed robber Mr Rodney, 27, less than a second after pulling up alongside the car in which he was travelling.
He fired off eight shots in 2.1 seconds, six of which fatally injured Mr Rodney who was the back seat passenger of a Volkswagen Golf which was boxed in during a “hard stop” by armed police in Hale Lane, Mill Hill, north London in April 2005.
In 2013, a judge-led public inquiry into Mr Rodney’s death found that he was shot with “no lawful justification” – but two years later, after an Old Bailey trial, Mr Long was cleared of murder.
– Robin Goodenough: Three officers were accused of manslaughter over the death of Mr Goodenough, 26, a disqualified driver who died in September 2003 after being stopped by police.
In November 2005, one officer was cleared and a jury failed to reach a verdict on the other two. Pcs Robin Shane and John Shatford were then tried instead for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but were cleared by jurors at the Old Bailey in July 2006.
– Michelle Wood: Three police officers were cleared of manslaughter over the death of heroin addict Ms Wood, 25, who was found dead from hypothermia on land near New Waltham, north east Lincolnshire, in February 2003.
One month earlier she had been arrested on suspicion of attempted burglary in Louth, Lincolnshire, after going to the town on a “shoplifting expedition”. Custody Sergeant Andrew Hickinbottom ordered Police Constables Andrew Wood and Ian Clark to drop her off at a point on the A16 about five miles from her home.
She had wet clothes, no money, and no mobile phone, although the location was near a petrol station and a pay phone. In April 2005, judge Mrs Justice Dobbs directed a jury at Hull Crown Court that there was no case to answer because there was no evidence that the officers had breached their duty of care.
– James Ashley: Mr Ashley, 39, was shot dead while naked, unarmed and in bed with his girlfriend during a raid on his flat in St Leonards, Hastings, in January 1998.
Sussex police constable Chris Sherwood was charged with murder and manslaughter, but in May 2001 the case collapsed after a judge found the prosecution had failed to prove he had not acted in self defence. He said he had mistakenly believed that Mr Ashley was pointing a gun at him.
– Christopher Alder: Mr Alder choked to death while handcuffed on the floor of a Hull police station in April 1998 after being arrested for an alleged breach of the peace. In August 2000, an inquest jury found the 37-year-old former paratrooper was unlawfully killed.
Two years later, five Humberside Police officers went on trial at Teesside Crown Court accused of manslaughter and misconduct in a public office, but the trial collapsed and the judge ordered the jury to acquit the defendants on all charges.
In 2011, Mr Alder’s family were told his body had been discovered in a hospital mortuary more than a decade after they thought he had been buried in Hull’s Northern Cemetery. It later emerged pensioner Grace Kamara was buried in Mr Alder’s place in 2000, two years after he died.
– David Ewin: Unarmed car thief Mr Ewin was shot dead by police marksman Pc Patrick Hodgson after he tried to drive off while the officer was clinging to the side of his car in Barnes, south-west London in February 1995.
Mr Hodgson became the first officer to face murder charges after a shooting while on duty, and was cleared by an Old Bailey jury of murder and manslaughter.
– Richard O’Brien: Market trader Mr O’Brien was arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a dance at a community centre in Walworth, south London in April 1994. The father-of-seven died after being held face down during his arrest and then placed lying on his front in a police van.
In 1999, three Metropolitan Police officers – Richard Ilett, Gary Lockwood and James Barber – were cleared at the Old Bailey of his manslaughter. The trial followed a judicial review launched by Mr O’Brien’s family after an inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing.
– Joy Gardner: Ms Gardner, 40, who was facing deportation, died in 1993 after police officers gagged her by wrapping at least 13ft of tape around her head and using several belts around her body at her flat in Crouch End, north London, in front of her five-year-old son.
She collapsed after the struggle and died four days later in hospital. The three officers were cleared of manslaughter.
