Anger from family of depressive who died after restraint by police!UK: The family of Roger Sylvester, who died after being restrained by police officers, yesterday expressed their disappointment at a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to prosecute any of the officers involved.Mr Sylvester, from Tottenham, north London, died more than six years ago after being handcuffed and restrained for around 20 minutes by up to eight officers who had detained him under the Mental Health Act.
The CPS yesterday announced that criminal charges would not be brought against the officers due to "insufficient evidence".
In a statement released through the campaigning organisation Inquest, the family said: "We are disappointed but not surprised at the decision announced by the CPS. Throughout the period of over six years since Roger's death in custody, we have faced a criminal justice system that has been
persistently unable and unwilling to bring its own to account."
A CPS spokesman said the decision had been reached following "very careful and lengthy consideration" of the case. He said: "There is insufficient evidence to justify the prosecution of any person in relation to the tragic death of Roger Sylvester."
Police were called to the home of Mr Sylvester, 30, who suffered from manic depression, in January 1999 after neighbours reported a disturbance.
He was taken to hospital where up to eight officers restrained him for 20 minutes while waiting for a doctor to finish dealing with another patient.Mr Sylvester collapsed from respiratory failure and fell into a coma. His life support machine was switched off seven days later.
An inquest verdict which found that he had been unlawfully killed was overturned in the high court last year after the judge expressed concern about the coroner's summing up and some of the reasons given by the jury for its verdict. The eight officers, who had been suspended while the investigation was carried out, were reinstated.
Referring to the original inquest verdict, the Sylvester family said: "For our part, we find greater force in that pronouncement by members of the public who heard all the evidence than upon the subjective view of a decision-maker within the CPS that has yet to prove its willingness or ability to allow justice to be done in cases of deaths in custody."
They also criticised the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Sylvester's death, led first by the Metropolitan police and then by Essex police, as an "exercise in mitigation of the officers", rather than a rigorous investigation into a
potential murder.
Three of the officers involved in the initial investigation were found guilty of neglect of duty after an official complaint by the family, who fear that vital evidence was lost.Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, who has worked with the Sylvester family for the past six years, said errors in the investigation had shaped the CPS's decision.She said: "Roger Sylvester was a young healthy black man who died because of the fatal restraint used against him by police officers. This sends out a clear message that police officers are above the law."By Laura Smith posted 20 JuneRelated:Prisoner's cell deathUK: A prisoner was found hanged in his cell last week, the Home Office said, fuelling criticism over the soaring number of suicides in custody.
Plans for five new 'superprisons'Recent figures show a total of 75,550 prisoners were held in 139 jails in England and Wales, nudging up the previous record of April 2004 by just six inmates.
Prison has lost its way - reportUK: Bristol prison is suffering wide-ranging problems because of inconsistent management, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.
Row over acupuncture for prisonersUK: The Home Office has responded to criticism over prison inmates who are being offered acupuncture on the NHS in order to relieve stress.
Number of prisoners sent back to jail treblesUK: The number of prisoners being sent back to jail after release has nearly trebled in the past five years, according to a report published today.
Top judge says crowded prisons cannot break cycle of crimeUK: Reoffending rates after a prison sentence are at an "unacceptably high level" and the failure of the criminal justice system to stop prisoners reoffending should shock the public, England's top judge, [Ruling Class] Lord Woolf, said last week.
All the World's a Prison: HistoryNo doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.
Decade after inspector left in disgust, report tells of filthUK: Dirty, mice-infested cells, high levels of self-harm, and widespread bullying over drugs and medications were just some of the damning findings of a report into conditions at Holloway, Britain's largest women's prison.
Most women 'should not be jailed'Women make up 6% of the prison population in England and Wales. Imprisonment of women should be "virtually abolished", a prison reform group has said.
Youth 'murdered for officers' pleasure'UK: An Asian teenager was murdered by a white racist after they were placed in the same cell as part of a game to fulfil the "perverted pleasure" of prison officers, a public inquiry heard on Friday.
Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increasesThe use of segregation [solitary confinement] of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.
Inquest blames jail for overdose deathUK: An inquest jury returned a verdict itemising a catalogue of faults at Styal prison in Cheshire, concluding that the prison's "failure of duty of care" contributed to the death of Sarah Campbell, 18, who took an overdose of tablets on the first day of her three-year sentence.
Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect othersUK: Sarah Campbell, 18, spent the last hours of her life in the segregation unit of Styal prison, Cheshire. "The seg", as those places are referred to, used to be known as "the block", short for punishment block. [ Seg is a bullshit word for Punishment, Solitary Confinement, Torture, Mental Illness, Self-Harm, Human Rights Abuse and that is State Terror.]
Britain 'sliding into police state'The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is transforming Britain into a police state, one of the country's former leading anti-terrorist police chiefs [false flag police chiefs] said yesterday.
UK solitary confinementUK: Segregation units are prisons within prisons - the places where the most unchecked brutality is meted out to prisoners. In recent years conditions in high security segregation units have deteriorated, and the use of long-term segregation as a control mechanism has increased.
Inquiry must root out prison racistsUK: It is difficult to imagine a more brutal murder than that of Zahid Mubarek. The 19-year-old was clubbed to death by his cellmate at Feltham Young Offender Institution in the early hours of 21 March 2000. He was due to be released just a few hours later.
Prison suicides soar as jails hire 'babysitters'UK: Prison officers are being taken off suicide watch and replaced by unqualified 'babysitters' because the system is overwhelmed by an epidemic of self-harm.
Plan to sell off juvenile jails as job lotUK: The government is to put out to tender all its dedicated juvenile jails that hold children under 18 in a departure in Whitehall's privatisation programme.
Failure to sack 'racist' prison staff condemnedUK: Two prison officers suspended for racism are still on full pay three years after a stash of Nazi memorabilia, neo-fascist literature and Ku Klux Klan-inspired 'nigger-hunting licences' was found in a police raid on their home.
Report slams 'unjust' jailing of women on remandUK: Six out of 10 women sent to jail while they await trial are acquitted or given a non-custodial sentence, a report published today reveals. Introducing the report, Lady Kennedy QC calls for a complete review of the use of remand and bail for women saying it is "inhumane and unjust".
Concern as UK prison suicides hit record levelUK: More prisoners took their own lives in English jails in August than in any other month since records began, prison reformers said today.
End of years of despair as Holloway closes its doorsBut now Holloway prison in north London - where Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, was hanged in 1955 - has been earmarked for closure, along with several other women's prisons, which have been hit by a spate of suicides.
How detox and self-help brought suicide jail back from the brinkUK: Six suicides in 12 months made Styal jail notorious and the Prisons Ombudsman criticised the prison and its staff for serious failures. But things are changing.
Belmarsh detainees consider suicide, says freed manUK: The first of the Muslim detainees released from Belmarsh high security prison after being held on suspicion of terrorism has told the Guardian his fellow prisoners are suffering such severe mental problems that they constantly consider suicide.
Suicides and unrest have soared, admits Home OfficeUK:The already overcrowded prison population is set to go on rising and will top 80,000 within the next three years, a senior Home Office civil servant warned yesterday.
England tops the EU in imprisonmentEngland and Wales jail more offenders per capita than any other European, Union country, according to new figures.
AUSTRALIA: NSW: The Indigenous Social Justice Association Inc has organised a Rally and March on Wednesday 17th August 2005 on behalf of Gail Hickey, her Family and supporters.
