Court of Appeal rejects challenge to Mark Duggan Inquest finding about unlawful killing

01 Jan 2018

Inquests and Inquiries, Public Law and Judicial Review

The Court of Appeal delivered judgment today on the Duggan family’s challenge to the outcome of the inquest into the death of Mark Duggan. The jury had been directed on the law of self-defence in order for it to decide whether to reach conclusions of lawful killing or unlawful killing. It opted for lawful killing, and Mr Duggan’s family challenged the direction in a judicial review. That challenge failed before a Divisional Court but was then the subject of an appeal. In that appeal the family argued that the direction should have made explicit reference to an objective test for the firearms officer who shot Mr Duggan; and also, that Article 2 ECHR required a finding that the shooting was objectively justified in order to support a conclusion of lawful killing. The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments.

Ashley Underwood QC acted for the Coroner.