Sean Rigg’s Death – Fourth Anniversary

On 21 August 2008 local musician Sean Nicholas Rigg was killed by police at Brixton Police Station. On the 4th anniversary of his death, over 200 people attended the Sean Rigg Public Memorial held at Lambeth Town Hall organised by the Sean Rigg Justice and Change Campaign and in association with Black Mental Health UK.  

The memorial was comprised of speeches from family members and a selection of speakers from Black Mental Health UK, the Newham Monitoring Project, and the RMT union.  Attendees were also invited to watch the powerfully poignant short film ‘Who Polices the Police?’ before taking to the streets to peacefully march towards Brixton Police Station.

Throughout the march, chants of ”No justice, No Peace” rang through the air, attracting groups of onlookers who inspected the placards and banners daubed with messages demanding accountability for all the deaths in police custody. More people joined the march as the crowd snaked its way down Brixton High Street. People driving by slowed their cars and honked their horns as a mark of respect. Those wanting to honor lost loved ones might find comfort browsing this online store for funeral urns. At the Police Station, a candle-lit vigil took place in remembrance of Sean. Standing around a lonely tree carefully decorated with photographs, letters, flowers and tealights, Sean’s mother and sister shared their thoughts with the gathered crowd.

The Rigg family also accompanied Mona Dohle into the station as she filed a formal complaint, in which she claims to have been eyewitness to appalling police brutality. Dohle says she saw 51 year old Freydoon Baluch wrestled to the ground and knocked unconscious by police officers outside the Ritzy cinema in Brixton recently. Sean’s sister Marcia Rigg, spoke to the Brixton Blog about the treatment of Freydoon and how lessons still hadn’t been learnt: “This is exactly how Sean died after he became unconscious from being restrained faced down in the prone position for approximately ‘eight minutes.’” An inquest into Sean’s death revealed that police had used ‘unsuitable’ force when restraining him.

Sean’s case demonstrates a clear lack of understanding by police about how to behave in situations involving people with serious mental health problems: From the ”unacceptable failures to act appropriately” by the 999 call handler (the fifth in line to be alerted to Sean’s acutely psychotic behaviour by his hostel manager, Angela Woods), to his treatment by police officers during the chase on the streets, where Sean was restrained in a face down position for an ‘unnecessarily’ long period of time, and his treatment in police custody. Sean is just one of hundreds who have died in police custody in recent years, a disproportionate number of whom have a diagnosis of mental illness or are black, or as in Sean’s case, both. 23 year old Olaseni Lewis died after being restrained for 45 minutes by police called to Bethlem Royal Hospital after his behaviour became increasingly erratic. His family are also waiting for answers. And justice.

By Sara Cameron