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UK: Police escape prosecution

01 May 1998

Following its latest review the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced that it will uphold its original decision not to prosecute any police officer following the unlawful killing of Nigerian-born asylum seeker, Shiji Lapite. Lapite was killed in December 1994 after being beaten by police officers, one of whom admitted kicking him in the head as hard as he could, after they came across him "behaving suspiciously". At an inquest, in January 1996, a pathologist counted 45 separate injuries to Mr Lapite, including the fractured voice box which killed him (see Statewatch Vol 5, nos 1 & 4, Vol 6, no 1 and Vol 7, no 4/5).

Despite the inquest jury's conclusion that Mr Lapite died as a direct result of the unlawful and excessive violence used against him by the police, the CPS concluded that: "In the absence of evidence to show that the actions of the police officers either singly or in concert were a substantial cause of Mr Lapite's death, there is not a realistic prospect of conviction against any police officer for manslaughter". They noted that after consulting the pathologists involved in the original investigation, none of them "was able to state, without reservation, that compression of the neck was a substantial cause of Mr Lapite's death."

However, Raju Bhatt, solicitor for Mr Lapite's family, pointed out that "There was no doubt in the jury's mind that this man had died as a result of an unlawful and dangerous neckhold." The CPS announcement was also condemned by Deborah Coles, of Inquest, who said:

Today's decision once again brings the entire criminal justice system and the role of the Crown Prosecution Service into disrepute. At a time when the public is being told that there will be major improvements in the prosecution of serious crime the CPS have failed to demonstrate that deaths in police custody are taken seriously and that police officers will be subject to the full force of the law.

The Police Complaints Authority will now reconsider whether disciplinary action need be taken against any officers.

Crown Prosecution Service press release 4.6.98.; Inquest press release 4.6.98.