Secret Inquiry for Azelle Rodney
On 10 June 2010, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke announced that under the Inquiries Act 2005 there would be an judicial inquiry into the death of Azelle Rodney, a young unarmed man shot dead by police officers from the Metropolitian police’s CO19 armed unit in April 2005. A previous attempt to hold an inquest was abandoned when the coroner ruled the inquest could not proceed because too much evidence from police witness statements had been redacted and that other intercept evidence could not be used because of how it was obtained. Following an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided that there was insufficient evidence to warrent criminal charges against any police officer for killing Mr Rodney.
The government originally sought to introduce the use of secret inquests through the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008 and then reintroduced it in the Coroners and Justice Bill 2009 but it was again rejected. Instead the inquiry is being set up under the Inquiries Act 2005, under which minister have considerable powers to decide on what can and cannot be made public. The inquiry is to be chaired by Sir Christopher Holland, a retired judge. It is likely that as the inquiry will involve “sensitive material” concerning police procedure and conduct, a good deal of the information will be withheld from Mr. Rodney’s family and the public.
For more on this news: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jun/10/inquiry-police-killing-azelle-rodney
A website has also been set up for the purpose of the inquiry: http://azellerodneyinquiry.independent.gov.uk/index.htm
