Police watchdog apologises over death of Sean Rigg in Brixton police station

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has made an unprecedented apology for its failings in the death of Sean Rigg, who died at Brixton police station in 2008.

Mr Rigg, 40, died of a cardiac arrest following restraint by three police officers which was deemed “unnecessary” and “unsuitable” by an inquest jury in in 2012. 

PC’s Andrew Birks, Mark Harratt, Richard Glasson and Matthew Forward were found to have held Mr Rigg in a “dangerous prone position” for seven to eight minutes when he was experiencing a mental health crisis.

He was chased by the police officers through the streets of Balham and restrained on the Weir Estate for the “theft of his own passport”.

He was then placed in a dangerous position in a cramped caged area in the back of a police van and rushed to Brixton police station, where he was kept in the back of the van in the station car park for about 10 minutes.

When he was removed from the van in a collapsed state, and within an hour of being arrested, Mr Rigg was dead, practically naked, wearing only swimming trunks and handcuffs in a cramped cage surrounded by multiple police officers. They claimed that he was sleeping and faking unconsciousness.

All the officers involved had misconduct charges dismissed by a disciplinary panel in 2019. The IOPC’s apology is partly in response to the “extremely upsetting” news that three of the officers involved had received compensation and an apology from the IOPC for the IPCC’s delays in its investigation.

The IOPC’s acting director general, Tom Whiting, has apologised in a letter to Marcia Rigg, Mr Rigg’s sister.

He said: “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, 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.

“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 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 the IOPC’s apology, Ms Rigg said: “Fifteen 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. 

“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.

“On May 15, 2023, I became aware via a Police Federation news article that three officers involved in the restraint of my brother received compensation and an apology from the IOPC for the IPCC’s delays, which was almost 11 years by the time of the decision in March 2019.  It was extremely upsetting for me to read this, not least because the compensation was paid in secret.”

Pictured top: From left, Sean Rigg and his sister, Marcia Rigg (Picture: Family handout and PA)