Devastating statement of Mohamud Hassan Family One Year On From His Death #Justice4MohamudHassan #ReleaseTheBodyCam #BlackLivesMatter #SuspendTheOfficers

                          Twitter @Justice4Mohamud Instagram @Justice4MohamudHassan

Press Release: 9^th January 2022

Mohamud Hassan Family Statement on the first anniversary of his death following detention in police custody at Cardiff Police Station on 9th of January 2021.

 

Families Call to Action: The Hassan family ask that you support the one year anniversary Twitter & Insta storm today and demand that the Attorney General Suella Bravemen and Home Secretary Priti Patel instruct the IOPC to #ReleaseTheBodyCam and fully suspend the six South Wales Police under investigation. 

Use hashtags #Justice4MohamudHassan #ReleaseTheBodyCam #BlackLivesMatter #SuspendTheOfficers please tag Braveman and Patel if possible. 

 

                                                  Zyanab Hassan Mohamud's Aunt. 

Mohamud Mohammed Hassan, 24, returned to his home, battered, bruised and blood stained on 9^th January 2021 following his arrest at his Newport Road flat the previous evening. He was arrested on suspicion of a breach of the peace and taken to Cardiff Bay police station. 

Mohamud was released without charge. He died in his own bed later that day. A post-mortem later failed to establish a cause.

 

The family have also issued a call to action calling the public to support a planned Twitter & Instagram storm for justice scheduled between 5 pm and 7 pm January 9th, 2022.

 

The Mohamud Hassan family statement reads. 

 

"One year on from the untimely and suspicious death of our beloved family member Mohamud Hassan we remain a family in shock at the treatment from we received Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) throughout the last year.

 

We call on Attorney General Suella Braverman and Home Secretary Priti Patel to intervene and demand that the IOPC release all police bodycam and CCTV footage to the Hassan family immediately. Further, we call on South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, whose silence on Mohamud's death has been deafening, to support our demand that all sic police officers be suspended from duty immediately. 

 

Initially, South Wales Police and the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) both issued press statements in the wake of Mohammud's death. They all reported that Mohammud told everyone the day he died that Cardiff police officers had beaten him up. The implicit suggestion indicated that there was no case to answer despite the expressed concerns of the friends, family, and witnesses.

 

As a family, all we've ever wanted is honesty and answers. We have had none of that. The Police and the IOPC have conspired to cover up, obscure, frustrate, delay and dispute our search for the truth.

 

As of today, six Cardiff police officers are now under investigation, and the only reason we believe that happened was due to our relentless questioning of the Police version of events.

 

We have repeatedly requested that the IOPC provide the family and our legal team access to the video showing the final hours of Mohamud's life. Despite our repeated requests for access to film recording of the last hours of Mohamud's life, the family have been consistently denied access by the IOPC. 

 

We believe that all families of those that die in suspicious circumstances in police custody should have an automatic right enshrined in law to get immediate access to police bodycam footage showing exactly what happened during their final moments on this earth.

 

Police body cam videos were introduced to help improve public trust and confidence and enhance police accountability.

 

That hasn't happened, and public trust and confidence in South Wales Police have deteriorated. 

 

Part of the reason for this is that most families who suffer a death in custody are routinely denied access to this footage because the IOPC wishes to dampen down public outrage whilst the police, we believe, use these body cam videos to construct a plausible legal defence.  

 

Had the footage of Mohamud's last moments been released to us, then we would have been spared the slow torturous agony of consistently speculating day by day on precisely what happened to him that awful night.

 

In stark contrast, we see in the US, after a death in police custody, police bodycam videos being released on demand to families in the immediate aftermath of such incidents. 

 

Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the tremendous support we’ve received as a family from the public. Your continued support has been of enormous help to us in enduring the last year.

 

Please continue to support and take part in our all-day Twitter and Instagram storm for justice on January 9^th, 2022, with a power surge between 5 pm – 7pm. 

 

We’re also requesting people post pictures or videos tagging both the Attorney General and the Home secretary with the hashtags #ReleaseTheBodyCam #Justice4MohamudHassan

 

Shavanah Taj, General Secretary of Wales TUC and a supporter of the campaign, said. 

 

"The Wales TUC remains resolute in our commitment and support for Mohamud Hassan's family and the wider community, who are seeking an honest and transparent explanation of his death. Given historical allegations of institutional racism levelled at South Wales Police and other recent cases of police brutality, we need to ensure that the investigation is subjected to independent legal scrutiny, supported by independent expert witnesses.

 

We have a duty to stand up to racism and systemic structural inequality and call out racism wherever we see it. It is important that the trade union movement in Wales continue to support our members both inside and outside of the workplace, and how we respond to tackling widespread inequality must remain a priority."

 

Hilary Brown, CEO VC services the Hassan legal representative, said,   

   

"The length of time it has taken for the IOPC to conclude their investigation is totally unacceptable. The family made requests early in the investigation to disclose the police bodycam and CCTV of MH that both the IOPC and South Wales Police have access to – which has still not been disclosed to the family. This failure has significantly contributed to the ongoing trauma suffered by the family. This denial constitutes a cruel and unusual punishment for a family seeking nothing more than the truth as to what happened to their beloved Mohammud."

 

Zita Holbourne, National Chair &Co-founder of Black Activist's Rising Against Cuts (BARAC UK), said

 

"It's a national scandal that a year on the Hassan family have no idea how Mohamud died, and yet both the IOPC and South Wales Police have had unrestricted access to this footage. It's utterly unacceptable, and the Attorney General should instruct the IOPC to release the police bodycam footage immediately." 

 

Lee Jasper Campaign spokesperson said. 

 

"It's time to end the scandal that sees families suffering the pain and grief of losing a loved one whilst in police custody and simultaneously trying to search for the truth. The release of this footage should be a matter of human rights, and families should be given unrestricted access to police bodycam footage. We call on the public to support this critical demand. 

 

So do ask that you write and demand that Attorney General Suella Braverman and the Home Secretary Priti Patel, two women of colour, by the way, instruct the IOPC to release all police bodycam and CCTV footage to the Hassan family immediately. 

 

The family also repeat the call on South Wales Police Crime Commissioner Alun Michael to suspend the six officers under investigation from duty. In no other profession can you be under investigation for suspicion of causing death and remain at work.

 

We suspect the real reason that both South Wales Police and the IOPC refuse to release this footage is as evident as it is outrageous. It allows both to manage the public and media backlash and provides an opportunity for the officers involved to construct their legal defence." 

 

A preliminary pre inquest hearing was held 3^rd March 2021.  The full Inquest hearing is scheduled for 27^th May 2021 at Pontypridd Coroners Court and will accessible online.

 

End

 

 

 

South Wales Police crisis deepens as sixth officer, a Police Sergeant is investigated over the death of Mohamud Hassan.

 

As a senior police officer faces now disciplinary investigations and Wales emergences out of lockdown, the issues of police racism and the deaths in police custody in January of this year of two Black men, Mohamud Hassan and Mouayed Bashir will see an escalation of Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Wales. 

Mohamud Hassan died on Saturday, January 9th 2021, after being violently arrested by Cardiff Bay Police officers at his home in Cardiff, Wales. He was detained overnight and released the following day without charge. His case has become a national and international story as the details of his arrest have been made public. 

Today I can reveal that in addition to five officers already being investigated, a sixth South Wales Police officer has now been served a regulation 17 disciplinary notice in connection to Mohamud's detention at Cardiff Bay police station. This notice relates to apparent failures to properly risk assess Mohamud whilst in custody. Mohamud repeatedly complained of feeling very ill, and yet no one lifted a finger to help him as his condition deteriorated. 

 

As indicated by these investigations, we now know that there was a catalogue of abuse and failures that ran through the entire chain of command from arrest to detention and release. 

It's worth recalling that South Wales police initially denied any wrongdoing by their officers in relation to Mohamud's arrest and subsequent detention.

 

Unbelievably the Chief Constable issued a press statement on January 15th 2021, commentating on his referral of this case to the IOPC just six days after Mohamud's death. 

 

The press release reads.

 

"...we did not do this (referred case to IOPC) because we thought that police officers had done anything wrong, but because it was the right thing to do, to give an independent view on the decisions that we made and the actions that we took."

 

The Hassan family continues to fight for justice and ask's for your support in demanding;

 

1.The IOPC releases the police bodycam videos of Mohamud arrest to the family and 

 

2.That South Wales Police Jeremy Vaughan resigns or is sacked for having issued this press release which bears no relation to the truth. His position, we say, is untenable, and we are calling on the candidates currently campaigning for the South Wales Police Crime Commissioner to back these demands and commit to a full independent inquiry. 

 

All the officers involved face serious misconduct charges and are suspended pending the outcomes of the IOPC investigations.

 

The IOPC, in refusing to release the police bodycam videos, was party to the initial conspiracy to deny any wrongdoing. It's now clear they wanted to maintain the initial fiction expressed in the South Wales Police press release that there was no case to answer as suggested by Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan. Both were involved in manipulating the media and proactively sought to play down and undermine the families concern that the police had battered Mohamud. 

 

The IOPC will issue this statement. 

 

"We have now served a notice at the level of misconduct on a custody sergeant who was on duty during Mr Hassan's detention. This notice relates to the quality of the risk assessment undertaken on Mr Hassan when in custody. Notices have previously been served on four other police officers and one custody detention officer as part of our ongoing investigation. One of the notices for a police officer is at gross misconduct level, the remainder are at misconduct level. Service of a misconduct notice does not necessarily mean an officer has committed any wrongdoing. It is to notify an officer that their conduct is being investigated."



There will be a Twitter storm for Mohamud on May 9th 2021 and an international online public meeting on 9^th of June 2021 

 

Follow Justice 4 Mohamud Hassan on Twitter, Insta and Facebook for more details. 

 

Explosive Update. Mohamud Hassan blacked out in the back of a police van. They did nothing to help him.

South Wales Police Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan Must Resign. 

Dramatic developments and new updates in the Mohamud Hassan case. 

Mohamud died on Saturday 9th January 2021 after being violently arrested by Cardiff Bay Police officers at his home in Cardiff, Wales. He was detained overnight and released the next morning without charge. 

One police officer has already been served a notice of investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) for failing to inform the Custody Officer at Cardiff Bay police station that Mohamud had complained of feeling like he was about to have a fit whilst he was being transported in the back of a police van to the police station.  

Initially, the investigation into this officer was classed as a possible low level misconduct attracting nothing more than a warning letter if proven. 

The Hassan family immediately demanded this charge be elevated to Gross Misconduct, which could result in the officer's dismissal. The family also called for the officers suspension. The IOPC rejected these demands. 

Now, the IOPC has revealed that this same Police officer failed not only to report Mohamud's complaint of feeling seriously unwell to the custody sergeant at Cardiff Bay police station, he also saw him collapse, literally slumping over in the back of the police van, and still did not report this to his senior officer. 

In failing to report and get urgent medical attention, the officer missed a real opportunity to have potentially prevented Mohamud's untimely death. 

That the IOPC has revisited the original charge against this officer, in the light of this damning revelation makes no sense. 

It's as though the IOPC is watching this officer's bodycam video in instalments. Why would the IOPC partially investigate the 'back of the van' incident, instead of simply conducting a proper investigation watching the whole footage before fully determining the disciplinary charge's status to be levelled at the officer?  

Clearly the charge against this officer must now be elevated to Gross Misconduct, and he must be suspended immediately. 

Interestingly, the Cardiff Bay Police station's custody sergeant on duty at the time of Mohamud arrival at the police station is now also being investigated. He has been served a notice of potential Gross Misconduct charges. 

The IOPC statement reads that the IOPC served,  

"a notice at gross misconduct level on a police officer that they may have breached police professional standards of duties and responsibilities, and honesty and integrity. We are examining the adequacy of welfare checks carried out and whether these were in line with required standards, and entries the officer made on the custody record;" 

This charge could relate to false entries or omissions in the custody record and validates why the family's legal rep Hilary Brown has been asking for the police bodycam videos and police custody records from day one. The Hassan family don't trust the IOPC to do a proper investigation, and the haphazard nature of their investigation thus far illustrates why. 

Did the officers in the van and the custody sergeant conspire together to hide something and was that the fact that Mohamud had suffered disproportionate and unnecessary violence during his arrest and transit to the police station? 

The IOPC continues, 

"a notice at misconduct level on a police officer concerning their use of force while escorting Mr Hassan shortly after he arrived at the custody suite; we are examining whether the use of force was necessary, proportionate and reasonable in the circumstances;"

The charge here suggests officers assaulted Mohamud during being escorted from the police van to the custody suite. So the officer who saw him collapse must have been involved in this along with the officers sat in front of the vehicle. This is horrific. 

"a notice at misconduct level on a custody detention officer that they may have breached police professional standards of duties and responsibilities concerning the adequacy of welfare checks carried out, and whether these were in line with required standards."

After being subjected to potentially disproportionate force, reporting feeling unwell, no one checked on his welfare as required by law. They slung him a cell and left him there. 

The IOPC adds,

"In terms of the evening of Mr Hassan's arrest for alleged breach of the peace, we have served notices at misconduct level on two police officers concerning their decision-making on the use of force on Mr Hassan when at the property. We are considering whether the use of force was necessary and proportionate in the circumstances."

 

Conclusion. 

All the officers under investigation must now be suspend. The bodycam videos and full custody records must be released, and Jeremy Vaughan must resign. 

All this indicates that Mohamud was violently arrested at his home. He then slumped over in transit and was subjected to disproportionate force again when he arrived at the station and was subsequently left in his cell despite being seriously ill, no doubt, due to the manner of his arrest. 

All these revelations now suggest that he was subject to disproportionate police violence and that this was an avoidable death. 

The IOPC continues to communicate to the family through press release. On this occasion they emailed the family, causing one of them great distress while at work. Imagine being randomly emailed this information.This shows a stunning lack of empathy for the family. 

We now know that the South Wales Police and Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan's press statement of the 15th January was designed to mislead. About his referral of Mohamud's case to the IOPC, Vaughan said. 

"We immediately referred the circumstances surrounding his death to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, who have decided to independently investigate these circumstances.

We did this not because we thought that police officers had done anything wrong, but because it was the right thing to do, to give an independent view on the decisions that we made and the actions that we took."

Such is the seriousness of these failures and omissions, we now believe that this has to be a resignation issue. The Hassan family are seeking public support for this demand. 

It cannot be right that Vaughan, having defended his officers and determining that none of his officers had  "done anything wrong", then suffers no sanction when we now know that five of his officers face serious investigation. 

Quite clearly, his position is now untenable. Trust and confidence are essential to good community relations. Chief Constable's words are important, particularly in response to a suspicious death in police custody. His instinctive defence of his officers implied that Hassan's family accusations of police brutality were unfounded.

That he made this statement and its implied assertion that the family were wrong, in the absence of any objective evidence is deeply disingenuous. 

South Wales Police Crime Commissioner Alun Michael 

The Police Crime Commissioner of South Wales Alun Micael must intervene in order to restore confidence of Black, Asian communities  and allied communities of South Wales. 

Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughans integrity is now compromised. His word has no credibility. He must resign. 

NB: I will be hosting the Free Siyanda Mngaza campaign zoom this Saturday 20th March 2021 starting at 4pm Book your place here. 

Fifty-Plus Police Officers Came Into Contact with of Mohamud Hassan

 

 

Things are progressing concerning Mohamud Hassan's case, but not in how statutory authorities would have hoped. Last week saw the IOPC hold its first meeting with the Hassan family. At that meeting, the IOPC told the family that I had become persona non grata. 

 

The IOPC had sought legal advice that concluded that I could not be invited to the meeting, despite the Hassan family requesting my attendance.

 

The IOPC is setting a dangerous precedent seeking to infringe on the fundamental rights of families to be supported and represented by advocates and activists of their choice when seeking to negotiate the complex and challenging process of the independent police complaints process.

 

The IOPC also held its first Community Reference Group on 2nd February 2021. It had invited 17 individuals and organisations to attend a meeting to hear about progress in their investigation and answer questions. The Hassan family considered this a public relations exercise and informed the IOPC, that they did not want any detailed aspects of the inquiry into their sons' death discussed with this group without their prior consent,

 

In the event, only four people attended the meeting, which indicates how little trust and confidence people have in the IOPC or the process of an independent police investigation.

 

Some at the Community Reference Group (CRG) meeting challenged the IOPC about their decision to refuse to allow me to attend their initial meeting with the Hassan family. . 

 

In the CRG meeting, Senior Independent investigator Ian Andrews revealed that Mohamud Hassan had come into contact with a staggering total of 50 plus South Wales Police Officers. That's an incredible number of officers considering he was in their care for just 10 hours.  Mohamud was arrested on Friday 8th January at 10 pm and released without charge at 8.30 am the following day.

 

The most obvious question to ask here is why such an overwhelming number of police officers involved in the arrest and detention? 

 

Such numbers would typically indicate the arrest and detention of a terrorist suspect or a mass murderer. It would seem to me to be reasonable to conclude that many of these officers must've been involved in the violent restraint suffered by Mr Hassan.

Is it any wonder the family has so much difficulty getting the IOPC to release the police bodycam videos? Can you imagine the scene that involves one slightly built 24-year-old black man and 52 South Wales police officers?

 

This critical information reinforces the need for us to demand these videos' release with immediate effect. Despite denials that Mr Hassan was badly treated during his arrest, we now know the disproportionate numbers of officers involved. The belief he was subject to a Taser will only add to the growing public anger, anxiety and concern about this case.

This is South Wales in 2021 not Mississippi Alabama in 1968. We must increase our demands to ensure the highest possible transparency and access to information are afforded to the family. 

 

The family and the broader movement are embarked upon a historic task of setting new precedents concerning death in police custody investigations. Every passing day provides more compelling evidence that we are right to do so. 

 

We are planning a Twitter storm on Tuesday, February 9^th 2021 on the four-week anniversary of Mohamud’s death see the campaigns Facebook page for more details

Please support the Crowd Justice Campaign raising funds for legal action. 

          Support the demand to release the videos - sign the petition, Share the article. 

 

IOPC fails to provide answers and engages in political interference in the Mohamud Hassan investigation.

The 1940s classic Welsh song, "There will be a welcome in the valleys" written by Mai Jones, Lyn Joshua and James Harpe, invokes the great cultural tradition of Welsh village life in welcoming home its prodigal sons and daughters. 

 

This wasn't much of that welcome in evidence last week however when the family of Mohammad Hassan who died on Saturday 9th January 2021 within hours after contact with Cardiff Police held their first meeting with the Wales Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC). 

 

As many of you will know, I have supported the Hassan family from the beginning of the tragic death of their son and involvement with South Wales Police. As a result, I was personally invited to attend this important meeting with the family. 

 

The IOPC agreed that all those listed to attend including me, would be sent a zoom link to the meeting. That link did not arrive until minutes before the meeting was due to start. Surprisingly I was not included in that email

                                      

As the meeting was about to begin, Senior Lead Investigator Rebecca Hinton informed the family that they (IOPC) had not sent me the link as they had sought legal advice that concluded that I couldn't attend as my "legal role" was not clear. This is simply bizarre and inexplicable.

 

I have attended many meetings supporting the families of victims of death in custody held by the IOPC in London over the years. In all that time, I have never been asked to clarify my legal role or as far as I know has my intended attendance been the subject of legal advice.

 

It will be interesting to hear from IOPC Wales why they felt it necessary to seek legal opinion, what was the question asked and the legal advice they received in response? I have written to the IOPC to ask them that very question.

 

This decision of the IOPC to deny the Hassan family's right to be accompanied by experienced advisers of their choice can be seen as blatant political interference in a ham-fisted and incredibly clumsy attempt to no doubt cause division between the family and myself. There is no legal reason why I should not attend these meetings as my frequent attendance at London IOPC meetings demonstrates. 

 

The critical question is, what’s the difference between IOPC Wales and London? I would suggest the only differences being is Wales is around 40 years behind London on the question of racial justice. Dealing with a backwater organisation operating as if it was 1981 not 2021 provides all the explanation anyone needs to understand their decision.

 

Part of the reason will undoubtedly be my public criticism of the IOPC in previous blogs where I highlighted their apparent synchronised press releases with South Wales Police. I wrote about what I believe to be was an attempt to mislead the public, with information designed to appease widespread community outrage, about the circumstances of Mohamud's death. 

 

But let’s be clear here, my attendance was immaterial as Hilary Brown and Inquest well represented the family, but it does give rise to serious questions about the independence of the IOPC. It cannot be right that they decide who families can and cannot bring to such meetings when the Black communities trust and confidence in the process of "independent" investigation into police deaths in custody is at a catastrophic all-time low.

 

The meeting itself was an opportunity for the family to press for answers to crucial questions relating to Mohamed's arrest, detention, release without charge, and subsequent death. 

 

Critical questions were put forcibly to the IOPC. However, they had few answers in return. 

 

Giving rise to further concern is that Rebecca Hinton's boss at the IOPC is Ian Andrew who is a retired police officer. 

 

The black community's overwhelming perception is it matters not whether somebody is a currently serving or retired police officer. The culture of institutionalised racism renders the vast majority blind to racism and black injustice. Many in the black community, share the view that these retired officers' predominant perspectives are biased towards the police. I believe this can be seen and detected in the Wales IOPC initial press release referred to above.

 

Concerning the arrest of Mohamud, we now have strong evidence to suggest that he may have been tasered, more than once, during his arrest. 

 

Again, if this is true, it would dramatically highlight the extent to which the IOPC and South Wales Police were less than forthcoming in providing complete transparency around the circumstances, and the degree of violence used during his arrest. 

 

Is it any wonder they are rarely believed when they seem to conspire to withhold critical information such as this blog to the family of the deceased and the wider public?

 

Despite the IOPC and South Wales Police media manipulation and attempt to exclude voices like mine in supporting families, the reality about the British black communities open hostility to the so-called "independent police complaints investigation process" will not diminish one iota. The current process is oppressive and fundamentally unjust. 

 

There remain many questions to answer about the arrest and death of Mohamud Hassan, and we continue to demand the police body cam video which the IOPC continues to withhold from the family, and we can all guess why. To date the public petition calling for justice and the release of this footage is 29,000 strong. Please make sure you sign and share.   

 

Despite these challenges and difficulties, the family's support continues to grow, and we must redouble our efforts to demand an unprecedented intervention.

We must demand that this investigation reshapes and sets new standards in IOPC investigations, or we must bring that institution to his knees, if necessary, in an effort to secure justice. The choice is clear, immediate radical reform or total abolition 

 

In pursuit of these goals, the family have established a Crowd Justice fundraising page that will support their legal strategy to achieve justice. 

 

What is vitally important to understand is that there are two arms to this struggle. The first is to place massive political pressure on the IOPC to open up this investigation, set new and essential precedents for openness and transparency, the second to robustly legally challenge any aspects of their decisions that constitute a fundamental block on the pursuit of justice for the Hassan family. 

In Wales, this was achieved when we forced South Wales Police to adopt new standards of investigation in response to the appalling racist injustice suffered by the Bute Town Three in 1997 a case that Hilary Brown (current legal rep for the family) and I were both involved with at the time. 

 

We cannot, and we must not allow the present status quo to remain unchanged. Our job in the name of Mohamud Hassan, George Floyd and the countless other victims of these injustices at the police's hands is to ensure that our demand that #BlackLivesMatter is not just a slogan, but heralds a paradigm shift in our demands for real police accountability.

Follow Twitter @Justice4mohamud and Justice for Mohamud on Facebook

Mohamud Hassan: A Response to the Chief Constable of South Wales Police Press Statement.

Lee Jasper is a former Deputy Mayor of London with responsibility for Policing (2000-2008)

 

 

This article should be read in conjunction with South Wales Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan's and the Independent Office of Police Conduct press statements linked below. 

 

Sunday, the 17th January 2021 was the day of the funeral for 24-year-old Mohamud Hassan of Cardiff, who died on Saturday, 9th January 2021 after his Cardiff Bay police station release. I have been supporting the family by highlighting his case, and today again I offer my sincere condolences. 

 

One can only imagine the pain and grief they will endure today and for the foreseeable future. Across the country, black and other communities have expressed their sadness, anger and concern about the circumstances of the arrest and ultimate death of Mr Hassan. A young 24-year-old had his life in front, hope expectant for the future and now at such a tender age body will be committed to the ground.

 

This is an all too common story for a black community, whose history is scarred with the trauma of such sudden and unexplained loss. Time and time again, we see the tragic repetition of black death trauma involving the Police. As we say goodbye to our dear brother, we must commit to demanding wholesale reconstruction of the process of independent police complaint and a coroner's inquiry processes that have proven to be incapable of delivering justice for our communities. 

 

In response to substantial public concern, the Chief Constable of South Wales Police, Jeremy Vaughan has been forced to issue a public statement.

 

In his statement, he writes that Mohamud Hassan's death was a

 

"...tragedy and we will continue to offer our deepest condolences to his family. There is nothing we can say to ease their pain, and we will support them anyway we can."

 

There is no more pleasing sound than gently closing stable doors. Such statements are all very well when seeking to minimise collateral damage of widespread public concern, but this one is particularly problematic. 

 

His sympathy and concern statement is exposed and undermined by the fact that neither he nor anyone else from South Wales Police made any effort to contact family in the immediate aftermath of Mohamud's death. 

 

The Chief Constable then speaks about referring the case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). 

 

He says, 

 

"...we did not do this because we thought that police officers had done anything wrong, but because it was the right thing to do, to give an independent view on the decisions that we made and the actions that we took."

 

That is a quite remarkable and astonishing statement to make. Let me explain why.

 

It would appear that as far as South Wales Police are concerned, this is an open and shut case. Jeremy's statement suggests that he had concluded that there was no case to answer, literally within hours of Mohamud's death. His comment quite clearly states that he referred the case to the IOPC, believing that his officers had done no wrong.  

 

According to the initial IOPC press statement, South Wales Police advised them about Mr Hassan's the day after his death on Sunday 10th January 2021 

 

I have written on this previously. In an earlier article on this blog, I pointed out that the IOPC press release dated Tuesday, 12th January 2021, stated that "preliminary indications" concluded that there is no evidence of any serious 'physical trauma injury' that can explain a cause of death. 

 

Unless I have misunderstood, I find this to be a quite remarkable statement.

 

The Chief Constable it appears concluded within hours of Mohamud's death that his officers had done nothing wrong and the IOPC some 48 hours later, issues a statement saying that there was "no physical trauma" suffered by Mohamud that could explain the cause of death.

This is a quite remarkable statement. So not only had the Chief Constable concluded within hours of Mahamud's death that his officers had done nothing wrong, but the IOPC had also reported some 48 hours later, that there was "no physical trauma" suffered by Mahamud that could explain the cause of death. This in spite of the fact that they had sight of the interim post-mortem examination report that confirmed Mohamad’s body was battered and bruised. 

This is selective reporting on their part as the report confirmed that Mohamud had, as his family has consistently stated, suffered some physical trauma including a split lip and numerous bruises consistent with being slammed against 'hard surfaces'.  So why didn’t the IOPC statement report all the facts? 

It seems to me that the prior assumption of the Chief Constable was that there was no case to answer. His view is then reinforced in the IOPC selective press statement issued on the 12th January 2021. 

The IOPC joins the Chief Constable in a rush to judgement yet we understand that the IOPC has not yet secured all the necessary witness statements central to this case. 

You can see my point. Mr Hassan body had visible injuries, and despite that somehow the Chief Constable Jerry Vaughan and the IOPC issue press statements giving the impression that the South Wales Police have done no wrong, without acknowledging the fact that Mohamud did have injuries. 

He then goes on to say that "I determined that we should pursue the evidence wherever it takes us." It seems to me you've already concluded where the evidence takes you.

 

The Chief Constable then makes a valid point about the prevalence of racial discrimination and disadvantage in all parts of society. He goes onto to say that it's essential that concerned voices should be heard. He then issues an implicit threat to enforce Covid19 emergency policing powers on those wishing to make their voices heard.

 

The Chief Constable then goes on to say that he needs his officers working hard to respond to incidents of "domestic violence and abuse, to respond to sexual violence, knife crime and all other forms of violence and hatred." It would seem to me that the simple insertion of knife crime is a either a subliminal or a consciously non-too subtle attempt to use that issue as a dog whistle reference, to conjure up racial stereotypes.

 

Further, he appears to be suggesting that demonstrating against perceived injustice comes at the cost of failing to protect other vulnerable victims. It's a classic divide and rule tactic and attempts to gaslight the black community.

 

There are still many questions to answer in this case. 

 

At this stage, key among them is how do South Wales Police account for Mohamud's injuries? 

 

Another is why the IOPC felt it necessary to issue a press release stating that "preliminary indications" show that Mohamud had not suffered any physical trauma that could have potentially resulted in his death.

 

The fact that South Wales Police and the IPOC refuses to release the police officer body cam and CCTV footage of Mohamud's arrest and his eventual release without charge to his family. Why?

 

We have heard time and time again that giving these videos to the families or victims would somehow"undermine IOPC investigation" or somehow affect police officers' rights. 

This is, of course, just legal flimflam. 

 

If the Chief Constable is essentially saying, he has seen the videos and sees nothing of concern, why does he not simply hand over the videos to the family? 

 

Doing so constitutes no risk or danger either to the investigation or the officers concerned. Of course, In America, such videos are routinely released in the immediate aftermath of critical incidents that cause widespread public anger and anxiety without any apparent problems for the legal process or officers. 

 

Ironically, the reason why police body cams were introduced in the UK was to provide public reassurance concerning critical policing incidents. It makes no sense in the context of a case causing tremendous anger and anxiety that the Police should withhold video footage from the family.

 

Indeed, in my view, the family have an absolute right to both see and get a copy of what is essentially the last precious moments of Mr Hassan's life.

 

The Police often tell us concerning heavy-handed and repeated stop and searches, that if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear.

 

The South Wales Police should apply that very same prescription to themselves. There can be no doubt that both local and national public concern is rising. That concern could be in part effectively addressed by the immediate release of the police video cam footage.

 

Both the credibility of IOPC Director of Wales, Catrin Evans and the IOPC in Wales is on the line, an institution already profoundly damaged by its continued failure to effectively hold police officers to account and root out the institutionalised racism and injustiuce so prevalent in the service. 

 

On this occasion, it looks like they have conspired to construct a version of events, designed to mislead the public. If that is the case, and it appears to be so, then that is a very grave mistake indeed.

 

Sign the petition to release the police bodycam and CCTV videos to the Hassan family here.