Author addresses final 2012-13 Bristol Labour Students meeting

On May 13th, at a weekly Bristol Labour Students meeting, PHD student David Mayberry delivered a talk concerning the problem of black deaths in police custody, which he has published a book about. He also related this to a failure to adequately implement the recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry’s into day to day policing and touched upon the disproportionate amount of stop and search carried out on people from ethnic minorities.

Mayberry explains:

‘The talk focussed around issues such as the disproportionate number of people from ethnic minority communities dying in police custody despite their relative lack of mental health problems. This was equated to the structural failure of senior officers to change the culture of the police whilst interviews conducted with serving members of the force highlighted the limited transference of diversity training to everyday policing. This also drew on the disturbing nature of certain deaths such as that of Shiji Lapite in 1994 which has resulted in no prosecutions despite a verdict of death resulting from asphyxia and the admission of kicking and biting by police officers. At the same time, it highlighted the more recent death of Paul Coker which had been the product of excessive restraint in 2005. 

‘The talk concluded by looking at how reform could be made to human rights legislation in order to provide a more accountable system which was related to the use of police powers. This ultimately led to a vibrant discussion amongst students concerning the purpose of diversity and human rights legislation in addition to perceived and real injustices which continue to exist within public institutions. More widely, this provided an important background to recent concerns about how the police have handled their relationship with the Lawrence family and Stephen’s best friend Dwayne Brooks. An interest in promoting awareness and confronting local issues in discrimination amongst students pointed to the highly attuned and relevant debate which accompanies these meetings.’

It was the last meeting chaired by 2012-13 Co-chairs Ruth Davies and Zaki Dogliani, who now hand over to Naomi McKay and Tom Phipps and an enthusiastic new committee listed in full here.

For more information see David Mayberry’s book: ‪Black deaths in police custody and human rights: ‪the failure of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry (2008, Hansib) which can be purchased here.

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