§ Mr. Murphyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he is making to the requests to him for a public inquiry into the death of Mr. Colin Roach; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BrittanNow that the jury has delivered its verdict on the death of Mr. Colin Roach, I have looked again at the requests for a public inquiry made to my predecessor before the inquest. I am not persuaded that such an inquiry is desirable or necessary.
Members of the inquest jury have, however, sent me a letter in which they have said that they are satisfied that they reached a fair verdict, but have made certain criticisms of the police handling of the case and in particular of their treatment of other members of the Roach family. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library. The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has 55W arranged for these criticisms to be investigated as a complaint against the police under Section 49 of the Police Act 1964.
More generally, what is needed now, in the best interests of good relations between the police and the community in Hackney, is for those concerned to sit down together and consider calmly and responsibly how the problems of the area can be tackled. I very much hope that it will soon be possible to establish in Hackney police-community consultative arrangements consistent with the guidelines issued by my predecessor.