'Injustice' screening goes ahead

Shiji Lapite died after being restrained by officers

A cinema audience defied threats of legal action by watching a documentary about deaths in police custody.

About 150 people gathered to watch the film, which names eight serving police officers as murderers, ignoring pleas from the cinema's manager not to view it in public.

Injustice is a 98-minute documentary which examines the stories of black people who died while in police custody.

The screening on Wednesday night descended into chaos when staff from Conway Hall, central London, opened a skylight and turned on lights, making it difficult to see the film.

It's just the facts that have happened and people are just speaking their mind

Myrna Simpson

After 30 minutes of the documentary some people barricaded the exits for a short time after the police were called.

Ken Fero, co-director of the documentary with Tariq Mehmood, said the trustees of Conway Hall had received threats of legal action from the representatives of some of the police officers it names.

Tariq Mehmood said: "When we booked the place they knew what the film was about."

He said that with regard to the legal implications of the film they had obtained "legal opinion of this to cover Conway Hall and we gave them that legal advice".

Officers identified

Myrna Simpson, the mother of Joy Gardener, who died after being restrained by officers, watched the film, which featured her daughter.

She said: "I don't see anything wrong with the film, why would anybody want to stop it?

"It's just the facts that have happened and people are just speaking their mind."

Although the film makers decided publicly to identify officers believed by relatives to be responsible for the deaths, none has been convicted of any crime.

Shiji Lapite's story is also in the film. He died after being restrained by officers in Clapton, east London, in December 1994.

'Ask questions'

Pathologists reported between 36 and 45 separate injuries.

A coroner's jury returned a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided there should be no prosecutions.

Tariq Mehmood said they made the documentary as they wanted to "create the conditions where people could ask questions.

The film is due to run for a fortnight at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, south London, in September.