Pic: Flickr - ~Steve Z~
Two Metropolitan Police officers are under investigation after it was disclosed that a gun reportedly found at the scene of the shooting which sparked the August riots may have been used in an alleged assault at a Hackney hair salon a week earlier.
The pair, who have not been identified, are on restricted duties while the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigates their handling of the incident at Lagoon Hair and Beauty Salon in Kingsland Road, London Fields on July 29.
Kevin Hutchinson Foster, 29, unemployed, has been charged with possession of a BBM Bruni Mod 92 handgun with intent to cause fear of violence at the salon.
He has also been charged with transferring such a firearm, which is of identical model to that connected with Duggan’s death.
Foster will appear at Waltham Forest Magistrates’ Court next week.
Police “voluntarily referred” the matter to the IPCC on Monday after tests seemed to show the converted pistol recovered from Mark Duggan’s shooting was the same allegedly used by Foster.
In a statement released today, the IPCC said: “Our investigation will consider…to what extent, if any, the conduct of this investigation may have impacted on the supply of the firearm found at the scene of the shooting of Mark Duggan. “
The statement said the complaints watchdog would assess the “quality of the investigative response”.
Duggan’s car was stopped outside Tottenham Hale Station on August 4 by armed police as part of Operation Trident. He died after officers apparently shot him twice in the head. The riots began in Tottenham the following Saturday evening following a demonstration outside the police station and later spread to other parts of London and the rest of the county.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “The Metropolitan Police Service has reviewed the original investigation conducted by two officers from Hackney borough into the actual bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent incident that took place on 29 July in Kingsland Road, Hackney.
“Due to concerns about the quality of the investigative response the MPS has voluntarily referred the investigation to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
“They have informed us that they will conduct an independent investigation. The MPS has put both officers on restricted duties pending the outcome of this investigation.”
