Chuka Umunna has called on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to give a full, public and meaningful apology for the way in which the Police failed both Cherry Groce and her family at the time of her shooting by the Metropolitan Police in 1985 and in the decades since.
Mr Umunna has also demanded that the Lord Chancellor takes action to ensure proper legal aid support is given to the family during Ms Groce’s inquest. Over 100,000 people have signed a petition backing this demand in the last seven days.
The shooting of Ms Groce by the Metropolitan Police in 1985 left her paralysed from the waist down and was ultimately a significant contributory factor in her premature death in 2011. It was Cherry Groce’s shooting by the Metropolitan Police that precipitated the 1985 Brixton Riots.
Last Friday, following demands for a public apology, the Metropolitan Police said they were ‘happy for it to be known publicly’ that the family had been offered an apology on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service.
Mr Umunna has said that this is “inadequate” and has demanded that the Metropolitan Police Commissioner himself give a “full and proper apology”.
The family have not been granted the legal aid requested for representation at the upcoming Coroner’s Inquest into Cherry Gross’ death.
Solicitors for the family have put the Legal Aid Agency on notice of their intention to commence judicial review proceedings to challenge their continuing refusal to provide funding for the representation of Ms Groce’s family at the forthcoming inquest.
Mr Umunna has written to the Lord Chancellor asking him to “look again at this decision, and take action so that the family have the full legal aid support they require.”
Commenting on the statement issued by the Metropolitan Police on Friday 21 March 2014, Chuka Umunna MP said:
“The apology that has been given so far is inadequate. A full and public apology, properly done, should be from the Met Commissioner himself and be displayed and promoted by the Metropolitan Police, including on their website. This will have to be a meaningful apology that acknowledges the Police have failed both Cherry and her family at the time of her shooting and over the many long years following.
“Especially given the high level of scrutiny the Met Police is currently receiving concerning its treatment of the black community, I think it is in the interests not only of my constituents but of the police for the Commissioner to give a full and proper apology as part of rebuilding trust in the Police.”
On the need for the family of Cherry Groce to receive legal aid, Mr Umunna said:
“The family should have every assistance to examine the circumstances that led to their mother’s death. There is a clear public interest in this case. I have asked that the Lord Chancellor looks again at this decision, and that he takes action so that the family have the full legal aid support they require.
“As I said when writing to the Lord Chancellor, to deny the family legal aid seems to me a perverse decision and I disagree strongly with the decision to withhold support from them.
“The petition demanding that the family receive the legal aid they need has gained over 100,000 signatures in less than a week, and I urge as many people as possible to show their support for the Groce family by signing it.”
On the relations between the Metropolitan Police and the black community, Mr Umunna said:
“For people like my constituents’ family, the family of Cherry Groce, the pain of what the Police did is something they must live with every day. For the black community in London, the scars of distrust have not fully healed and are only exacerbated by issues such as the disproportionate use of stop and search and the devastating impact of deaths in custody.
“Whilst it is true that we have come a long way from the dark days of the 1980s, there is still much more to do. Issues from decades past must be dealt with, wrongs atoned for, and the issues of today must be dealt with.”