Watchdog apologises for investigation delays 15 years on from Sean Rigg death

The acting director for the Independent Office for Police Conduct sent a letter to the Rigg family last month.

Sean Rigg died in custody in Brixton in 2008 (Hickman and Rose Solicitors/PA) (PA Media)

The police watchdog has apologised to the family of musician Sean Rigg 15 years after his death for the delays in its investigation.

Mr Rigg, 40, died in custody at Brixton police station in 2008 after he was arrested having been seen aiming karate kicks at passers-by.

In 2012, an inquest jury found that officers had used “unsuitable” force and that the way Mr Rigg was restrained “more than minimally” contributed to his death.

On Friday the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) published a letter which had been sent to Mr Rigg’s family last month, in which acting director Thomas Whiting made an unreserved apology.

In 2013, an independent review of the original IOPC investigation found that it was not robust enough and should look again at whether officers should face misconduct proceedings.

The probe was reopened and, six years later, five officers went before a disciplinary panel and were cleared.

In his letter, Mr Whiting also apologised for failing to tell the Rigg family that settlements had been made with three of the officers who had brought civil claims against the watchdog.

Mr Rigg’s sister, Marcia Rigg, said she trusts that “the IOPC will now consider informing families and complainants of any similar compensation to officers by the IOPC as a matter of course.”

I understand that this caused you and your family anxiety, distress and upset in addition to that which you inevitably suffered in the wake of your brother’s death and investigations and proceedings that followed

Tom Whiting, IOPC

In his letter, Mr Whiting acknowledged an apology made by the watchdog, which was then called the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), for its “shortcomings” in its investigation of Mr Rigg’s death.

The letter continued: “I wish to apologise to you and your family not just for the delay in the original investigation but also for all of the IPCC’s delays thereafter including in completing the second investigation and the time it took to bring matters to a conclusion.

“Also, given recent events, I consider it appropriate to personally apologise to you and your family on behalf of the IOPC and the IPCC for not giving proper consideration to informing you, at an earlier stage, of a civil claim brought against the IOPC by some of the officers investigated following the death of your brother.

“While we decided it was necessary to settle the claim, I am sorry that consideration was not given to informing you of the claim at a much earlier stage.

“I also apologise for the way you came to learn of the settlement of the claim, the fact compensation was paid and apologies provided to the officers.

“I am aware that we did not inform you following the settlement and that you instead learned of it through an article issued by the Police Federation, which we did not know about until after publication.

“I understand that this caused you and your family anxiety, distress and upset in addition to that which you inevitably suffered in the wake of your brother’s death and investigations and proceedings that followed.

“For that, I unreservedly apologise.”

In response to the IOPC’s apology, Marcia Rigg said it was “extremely upsetting” to read that compensation had been paid to officers in secret.

She said: “15 years since my brother Sean Rigg died at Brixton police station; the never-ending trauma and painful impact continues to haunt me, through no fault of my own or my family.

“The lengthy judicial process very rarely affords any proper accountability following deaths caused by excessive force and face down restraint by police officers.

“This only serves to fuel already decades of injustices and more unnecessary deaths.

“In my view, and that of many families and the public generally, there continues to be zero confidence in the investigative and judicial process, no justice even with damming evidence and countless reviews, proving that the whole judicial system in the UK is fundamentally flawed; institutionally racist; corrupt and a national public scandal.”

Addressing the letter, Ms Rigg added: “Last month, exactly 15 years after Sean’s death, Tom Whiting of the IOPC unreservedly apologised for not informing my family of the fact that compensation was paid to three of the officers; for the history of delay; and the failings of the first IPCC investigation.

“The jury’s findings in August 2012 and the independent Casale review of 2013 laid bare those failings.

“I appreciate these apologies and trust that the IOPC will now consider informing families and complainants of any similar compensation to officers by the IOPC as a matter of course, as a courtesy and in the wider public interest.”