30th April 2014

Susan Alexander, mother of Azelle Rodney has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to ask that a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decision on charges relating to Azelle Rodney’s death be made without delay.

Wednesday 30 April 2014 marks nine years to the day since Azelle Rodney was shot dead by a police firearms officer (known as ‘E7’) during a ‘hard stop’ in Edgware, north London.  It took over seven years for an inquiry to be held into his death, for which the government has already had to apologise when Susan Alexander complained about the delay to the European Court of Human Rights.  It has been over nine months since that inquiry concluded that Azelle Rodney was unlawfully killed, and the CPS had the draft Inquiry report over a year ago.

The CPS has given no indication of how long it will take for a decision to be made, despite requests from Ms Alexander and parliamentary questions tabled by her MP, Seema Malhotra.

Lawyers acting for Ms Alexander have pressed the DPP to ensure that any further CPS delays are kept to a minimum and that she is kept informed at each stage, ultimately with a view to charging decisions being made as soon as possible. 

Susan Alexander, Azelle Rodney’s mother said:

“The CPS has known all the details about the killing of my son for over 8 years and has had every available document from the IPCC for over six months, but still there is no sign of a charging decision. It seems as if only one reviewing lawyer is working on this at the CPS instead of a whole team of people. This wait is intolerable and no mother should have to go through this. Nine years after Azelle's untimely death it's plainly wrong that the CPS can simply take as long as it wants, with zero accountability to me or the public.”

Seema Malhotra MP, Susan’s local Member of Parliament said:

“I am struck by the deep impact on Susan and her family of their fight for nine years to get results from the legal processes that have followed on from the police shooting of her son, Azelle Rodney, in April 2005.

“While the Inquiry report in July 2013 was welcomed by Susan, there is now real concern about the wait of over nine months for the Crown Prosecution Service to make charging decisions, without any sense of when the process will conclude. I support Susan’s call for the DPP to look into why it is taking so long to make these decisions; for the sake of all those involved in this case, and particularly the family of Azelle Rodney.”

Daniel Machover, representing Susan Alexander said:

“The CPS has adopted an aloof and arrogant stance in this case and many others involving alleged police criminality. When it comes to these police custody cases, the public is being failed pretty consistently by an organisation that should work promptly and effectively to bring suspects to justice where the evidence and public interest points to a prosecution.”

Susan Alexander is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Daniel Machover and Helen Stone of Hickman and Rose solicitors and Leslie Thomas QC of Garden Court chambers and Adam Straw of Doughty Street chambers. Daniel Machover is also Chair of the Board of Trustees at INQUEST.

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. The report of the Azelle Rodney Inquiry can be accessed via the Inquiry website here
2. IPCC press release 5 July 2013: IPCC asks Crown Prosecution Service to reconsider Azelle Rodney caseand CPS response: CPS statement on the Azelle Rodney Inquiry Report