This press release was read out on 22 November 2008 at the demonstration held in South London to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the police murder of Ricky Bishop


Justice for Ricky Bishop

BORN 11 April 1976- KILLED 22 Nov 2001

Press Release


What happened?

• Under the disguise of Operation Clean Sweep, a public policy of police containment against the black community, Ricky Bishop a 25-year-old African Man and father of one, who was a bodybuilder, Coach and volunteer fitness trainer, was arrested on 22 November 2001 by Brixton Police. He was a passenger in his
white friend’s car, (his friend was never arrested or searched

• Ricky was stopped and searched at Dalyell Road (Brixton) with all items in his pockets placed on the top of the car; at this point the Police produced no evidence of any drugs


How he died?

• CCTV evidence show Ricky arriving handcuffed at the station, he was taken up several flights of stairs into a small room, (in which we have no visual footage).

• Four hours later he was dead, still handcuffed on the floor in the A & E Department at King College Hospital, whilst being watched by murderous police officers, who were joking about a scar on his stomach, with a doctor on duty. At that time he was given no medical attention whatsoever!


Who killed Ricky Bishop?

• The police officers on the scene were insp. Paul Martin, a black officer, who was the senior officer on duty, PC. Simon McDaniel, PC. Richard Atkins, PC. Christopher Rees, PC. Michael Lane, PC. Daniel Woods, PC. Richard Luck, PC. Nicolas, PC Paul Gittins, PC. Shane Molyneux, PC. Christopher Davis and PC. Mark Johnston.


Police cover up and criminal negligence

• Brixton police, then led by Brian Paddick, covered up the brutal and violent assault by hiding evidence e.g. handing in to the courts the wrong handcuffs used to contain Ricky on that day, sealing the wrong small room; and altering one of their own witness’s statement

• A police officer from Brixton’s Drug team had access to the said drugs shoved down Ricky’s body; one of which was Richard Atkins

• The neck-hold and pain appliances used to murder Ricky were unlawful

• Ricky was kept waiting for an hour at the police station after sustaining his injuries and 1hr at the hospital before anyone tended to his injuries

• According to the evidence from the police they said “once Ricky was in the police station they noticed his cheeks bulging” and produced a chewed up plastic wrapping which they said was in his mouth. The Plastic wrapping had his DNA (force-fed by Brixton Police) but the pipe which would have been used to smoke the drugs didn’t have any of Ricky’s DNA on it.

• Their own expert witnesses/pathologists said Ricky would have had to have taken 50 plastic wrappings of cocaine, to match what the police said as their evidence

• The truth is there was no plastic wrapping in his stomach. Either Ricky stood in front of 8 police officers unwrapping, 50 packets of cocaine or he was forced to swallow a large amount of drugs

• The officers who committed the murder; admitted to using the illegal holds on Ricky. In Lambeth they said it was the norm to use illegal pain compliances & holds. The senior officers knew this and sanctioned it even though they had known it was illegal!

• InPDUM is an organisation of the African Working Class that mobilises the community around democratic issues, self determination and social Justice for the entire African community. Operation Clean Sweep has nothing to do with crime, because the real crimes are committed against black people e.g. 70% of black men’s DNA is on the police database whether or not they have committed a crime, 60% of black families live below half of the National Average Income (less than £12,000 a year), according to Government statistics black youth commit 0.5% of all crimes in the UK but yet still we have the constant criminalisation of our black youth by the media and the government and the gentrification of our communities, 75% of black children who can not get the required 5 GCSE is a form of violence against the black community, etc.

• They criminalise our community, impose an illegal drug economy in our community while wiping out any legal economy for our youth to participate in, and then use the presence of this government-imposed drug economy as a reason to flood our community with brutal, murderous police which continues to grow in the form of Operation Trident, Police Community Support Officers – PCSO’s, Community Wardens etc. With 1000 more officers yearly and 1,500 PCSOs and according to the Mayor of London statistics there are now more police in London than at any other time in history. But no matter how many police are on our streets guns, drugs and violence still increases. Even when our black youth end up in the prison system, drugs are still present there. So the question is who brings the drugs in? It’s the British Government.

• Failing schools, knife and gun violence and” street corner drug sales” are all symptoms of the real problem that need to be addressed: the underdevelopment of the African community. A community that really offers opportunities to young people is less likely to draw them into drugs and crime. The government continues to increase the amount of police in the black community however it is at best a poor economic substitute, at worst a colonial occupation that will not solve the underdevelopment and the poor schooling of the black community.


JUSTICE FOR RICKY BISHOP MUST MEAN:

* Reparations to the family of Ricky Bishop

* Community police review board with summons/subpoena power

* End the history of cover up in the Brixton police murders of African people

* An Independent investigation into the police murder of Ricky Bishop

* The arrest and trial for murder of Ricky Bishop's killers:

193083 Paul Martin, PC Simon McDaniel, PS53 Richard Atkins, PC605 Christopher Rees, PC669 Michael Lane, PC800 Daniel Wood, PC108 Richard Luke, PC972 Nicolas Wilson, PC619 Paul Gittens, PC635 Shane Molyneaux, PC188 Christopher Davis and PC916 Mark Johnston and former Lambeth Borough Commander Brian Paddick

* End the public policy of police containment

* Real Economic Development for the African Community


“Self Determination is the Highest Expression of Democracy”

“WE REMEMBER RICKY BISHOP”


UHURU MEANS FREEDOM!!


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Contact email: inpdum_london(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk