6 December 2017

Marcia Rigg, Sean’s sister, said on behalf of the Rigg family:

“It is shameful that the CPS should yet again find there is insufficient evidence for a jury to convict police officers who so evidently have a case to answer’. The CPS seem to apply an impossibly high evidential test when deciding whether to prosecute police officers, setting the bar so high that one cannot reach it. This is in stark contrast to the approach taken to prosecuting members of the public, whom the police are meant to serve.

The Rigg family are naturally disappointed and Sean is forever missed by us and the community.  Any hope has been crushed, unnecessarily. After years of vigorous campaigning to highlight the flaws in this wretched and unfair judicial system, there is no justice in the UK for families like mine. Families are treated unsympathetically following the death of their loved one at absolutely every juncture of the tactfully long drawn out investigation by the IPCC and the police. Lessons must be learnt, but without accountability lessons will never be achieved.

Even following the highly critical Coroner’s inquest and Prevention of Future Deaths report into Sean’s death, CCTV, witness evidence and audio documentary, the Casale Report into the IPCC's original flawed investigation, various other investigations and judicial reviews, a perjury trial against Sergeant Paul White, the recent damning Angiolini review on deaths in police custody, and even Theresa May's own concerns and comments on Sean's treatment; almost 10 years on our quest for justice has achieved no accountability whatsoever for the wrong committed by police officers to Sean.

It is hard to understand how the conclusions can contrast so greatly from the evidence. What message does this send to police officers? Black men continue to disproportionately die following restraint and use of force by police. Where is the accountability? Why is there no justice?”