Police involved in the fatal arrest of Smiley Culture will not face any charges

Kushi Amlak-Sakhu   

originally by: The Guardian
2nd September 2011
 http://4wardeveruk.org/2011/09/police-involved-in-the-fatal-arrest-of-smiley-culture-will-not-face-any-charges/
Police officers who carried out the raid in which the reggae star Smiley Culture allegedly stabbed himself to death are unlikely to face criminal charges, disciplinary action or be officially questioned, the Guardian has learned. The disclosure comes despite an admission by the Independent Police Complaints Commission that the operation at the singer’s home in Warlingham, Surrey, on 15 March was “not satisfactory” and that the actions of at least one officer have been criticised.
In a confidential letter to the singer’s family, Mike Franklin, commissioner of the IPCC, said: “The [IPCC] investigation has identified aspects of the operation which were not satisfactory, and criticisms have been made of some of the officer’s actions. However, these do not meet the threshold for misconduct under the police misconduct system.”
The family of Smiley Culture, whose real name was David Emmanuel, has bitterly criticised the Metropolitan police officers involved, none of whom have been suspended, and the IPCC’s decision that the officers were witnesses and not suspects, meaning they cannot be compelled to submit to a formal interview.
They want to know why the four officers handcuffed 48-year-old Emmanuel after his fatal injury. An independent pathologist’s report has stated that the stab wound would have “cause[d] rapid collapse and death within a few minutes”.
They also question why the officer in the kitchen at the time of Emmanuel’s death refused a direct request by the IPCC’s lead investigator to give a formal interview.
“Even if foul play didn’t happen that day, the officers should be being held responsible for being so incompetent that my dad died,” said Shanice McConnachie, Emmanuel’s 17-year-old daughter. “Whatever went wrong and led to my dad’s death, it’s the officers’s fault for not doing their job properly. My dad was in their care.
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