Sylvester case highlights deep concerns

By Cindi John
BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Roger Sylvester died after suffering a heart attack

The inquest into the death of Roger Sylvester was never going to be straightforward.

The four sets of counsel at the front of the room testified to that before a word was given in evidence.

Cases in which people have died following contact with the police create high emotion, and in the Sylvester case that often spilled over into proceedings.

Rarely a day went by without the inquest being delayed by legal arguments, sometimes accompanied by acrimonious exchanges, between the lawyers representing the Sylvester family, the police and the healthcare trust responsible for his psychiatric treatment.

The year Roger Sylvester suffered a heart attack and lapsed into a coma after being restrained by eight police officers, 46 people died in police custody or following contact with the police.

The fact Mr Sylvester was one of eight black men to die in 1999 added another dimension.

Since the death in Leeds in 1969 of David Oluwale - a vagrant of Nigerian origin who was beaten by two police officers and thrown into a river - black people dying in police custody has been a recurring, thorny issue.

Civil disturbances

In the past 13 years, 70 of the approximately 655 people who died in police custody - or more than 10% - were black.

The over-representation of black people among custody deaths has been the subject of several reports and studies over the years.

But campaigners complain little has changed as a result, and a widespread perception that police officers treat black people in their care more harshly has led to civil disturbances after some deaths.

The perception of uneven treatment is one police forces are keen to dispel, but critics say the way such deaths are currently investigated does little to help their case.

Deborah Coles remains cautious

For many years, there have been calls for an independent body rather than the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) to investigate custody deaths.

Now a new body, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), is due to take over in April 2004.

It will have additional powers, including the ability to carry out independent investigations.

A PCA spokesman said the figures on black deaths in custody "speak for themselves".

"We are aware of these issues and I think we've listened to the pressure groups."

But Deborah Coles of the pressure group Inquest said: "Until we see how those deaths are investigated, how transparent those investigations are and how involved families will be, it remains to be seen whether or not the IPCC will make a difference."

One thing groups like Inquest and families of custody death victims hope for is that the formation of the IPCC will lead to more police officers involved in custody death cases facing criminal charges.

'Impact'

In the 1969 case of the David Oluwale the officers involved were charged with manslaughter but, on the direction of the judge, convicted of the lesser charge of assault.

In recent years few cases have resulted in criminal charges being brought against five of the officers involved.

Controversial cases 1993: Joy Gardner 1994: Shiji Lapite 1995: Brian Douglas 1996: Ibrahima Sey 1998: Christopher Alder 1999: Roger Sylvester

The last wast that of Christopher Alder who died in a police station in Hull but conflicting medical evidence led the judge to order the jury to acquit all five officers in June 2002.

However in July this year, the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith announced he was referring the case to the Court of Appeal.

A ruling could not affect the officers in the Alder case but could set a precedent for future cases.

Lord Goldsmith held a review into the way the Crown Prosecution Service handled deaths in custody after becoming "acutely aware of the profound impact" on the families of people who die in custody and no prosecutions follow.

"For a range of reasons - including lack of independent eye-witness evidence and the conflicting evidence of pathologists - deaths in custody can be among the most difficult cases to prosecute," he said.

The failure of the CPS to prosecute in many cases had led to disillusionment among the families of custody death victims, he said

"There are few checks and balances available to those aggrieved by such a decision not to put a case before a judge and jury. In some cases, there is concern that justice has not been done."

Families unite

Some families have decided to press their case by forming their own pressure group, the United Families and Friends Campaign.

Spokesman Ken Fero - who produced Injustice, a controversial film about deaths in custody - said they drew strength from each other.

"Obviously the fact that the families came together in the mid-1990s, and it's mostly black families, has had an enormous impact in terms of their own voice getting projected out, in terms of the media, the government hearing what the families want," he said.

In the last few years the proportion of black men among custody death cases has fallen, but Mr Fero said that was no cause for complacency.

"Over the past 30 years we've had 1,000 custody deaths and there's a disproportionate number of black people among them.

"So just because one year the figures go down doesn't mean the problem isn't still there."