Five officers could face criminal charges over death of Sean Rigg at Brixton police station

Sean Rigg: the musician died while in police custody at Brixton police station
PA
Jamie Bullen1 March 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Five police officers could face criminal charges over the death of a man after he was restrained.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it has passed the investigation to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether a case should be brought to court over the death of Sean Rigg.

Mr Rigg, a musician who suffered from schizophrenia, died at Brixton police station in 2008 after being held down for eight minutes in the "prone position".

The five officers have been interviewed over potential misconduct in public office. Mr Rigg’s sister Marcia has called for them to be suspended while charges are considered.

She said: “We hope the CPS makes a decision to charge as soon as is reasonably possible.

"We have had to battle every step of the way through two separate investigations (one failed) and a lengthy inquest into Sean's death to get to the bottom of what happened to my brother and to hold the officers involved to account for their conduct.

"Now that the officers are potentially facing criminal charges, we call on the Commissioner to alleviate any public concern that they might be allowed to remain on any form of active duty by suspending them immediately. This is essential for ensuring continuing public trust in the police.

"A failure to do so would send the wrong message about how seriously the police take these matters, especially once the CPS have been asked to consider criminal charges."

In 2012, an inquest jury found police used "unsuitable" force after arresting Mr Rigg in Balham for attacking passers-by and officers.

He was taken to Brixton police station where it was decided to keep him in a van for 11 minutes until the custody suite had been cleared.

Mr Rigg was found to be unwell when he entered the building and later died from a heart attack.

IPCC deputy chairwoman Sarah Green said: "I have decided to refer this investigation to the CPS to determine whether any criminal charges should be laid. The evidence relates to the actions of five police officers."

The watchdog has investigated how police dealt with Mr Rigg on the day he died.

Scotland Yard said a sergeant and a police constable are suspended, while another three constables are on restricted duties.

It added potential internal misconduct proceedings could be considered "in due course".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in