Mark Duggan's cousin speaks of lasting trauma a decade after fatal shooting
| Published date | 06 August 2021 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
After his death, an inquest jury found Mr Duggan was not holding the weapon when he was shot, but concluded he had been lawfully killed.
READ MORE: Firefighter on 'breakdown of society in front of me' decade after London riots
Now, ten years on, a cousin of Mark who lives in Nottingham has spoken to NottinghamshireLive on the pain his family have had to endure for a decade.
Marsha Farmer's mother -Rubena Knibbs Hall -and Mark Duggan's father -Bruno Hall -are siblings and Marsha, who lives in St Ann's, believes that the lasting impact of the shooting and ensuing riots is the "pain and injustice" the family still feels.
The family have still struggled to come to terms with the loss and visit Mark's grave every year in London on the anniversary of his death -August 4.
While his remaining family members have been left to deal with the sadness of his loss and the trauma, Marsha believes events since her cousin's death have highlighted how the black community still feels discriminated against.
The 51-year-old who formerly worked in the media and now works with a local church -St Nic's -said: "For us, the pain and injustice is the lasting impact of it all. There is still no justice here for what has happened.
"It's so hard for those still here. He didn't die from a sickness and the events that surrounded it after with the riot, that was hard too.
"For his family having to live that out in the public eye was horrendous.
"It's still as raw for us as the day it happened. The trauma is still there.
"I was in Nottingham at the time of the riots. My family made a public announcement asking people to stop because it wasn't helping the situation.
"However, I totally understood the frustration, anger and pain people were feeling. It all built up towards an explosion.
"We didn't condone it but we totally understood it.
"Apologies have been made publicly and officially but not personally to the family. They were treated with contempt when they were trying to find out what had happened.
"It's just like Martin Luther King said, 'a riot is the language of the unheard'."
The inquest into Mr Duggan's death in 2014 heard how armed police had intercepted a minicab he was travelling in after intelligence indicated he was part of a gang and had arranged to collect a gun.
It was first revealed in October 2019 that...
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