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High Court upholds ‘lawfully killed’ Duggan verdict

Devastated family vow to continue the fight

Mark Duggan’s family pledged to continue the fight for justice yesterday after the High Court upheld as lawful the 29-year-old’s death at hands of police.

Mr Duggan’s mother Pamela said she was “extremely disappointed” and the family is expected to appeal the decision.

His aunt Carole said: “Once again, our family feel let down.”

She promised that the family would continue the battle using “whatever crack, whatever crevice there is.”

Mr Duggan was killed in Tottenham, north London, in 2011 by a Metropolitan Police marksman who believed he was an armed gangster.

He was shot twice by officer V53 and died instantly on the scene.

Protests following his death quickly escalated into what Carole Duggan described as an “uprising.”

Yesterday’s hearing saw Pamela Duggan’s application for a judicial review being denied.

Three High Court judges decided to uphold the decision made by an inquest jury earlier this year, which deemed Mr Duggan had been “lawfully killed” by the police.

The family’s friends and supporters were said to be in shock. The court said it “recognised the tragedy” but ruled out the grounds for a legal challenge.

The force still faces the prospect of future civil action.

Judge Sir Brian Leveson revealed: “As we have sought to make clear, it was not the purpose of the inquest to determine civil liability.

“In civil proceedings the burden of proof and the ingredients are different and may — we do not say must or will — provide a different answer to the very difficult questions posed by this case.”

Pamela Duggan’s solicitor Marcia Willis Stewart refused to offer further information, saying: “There is another matter related to the death of Mark Duggan being heard in the Court of Appeal today and tomorrow, which is the case in relation to ‘conferring’.

“It would not be appropriate for me to comment any further at this stage,” she added.

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