Government pays out over death of ‘wrong body’ Falklands veteran Christopher Alder

THE Government has apologised to the sister of Falklands veteran Christopher Alder who died in a Hull police cell and agreed to pay her £25,780 in compensation and costs, according to legal documents released today.

The apology, lodged with European Court of Human Rights, was accompanied by an admission that Mr Alder’s treatment breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

The 37-year-old father of two choked to death while handcuffed and lying on the floor of a police station in Hull in the early hours of April 1 1998.

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Earlier this month it was revealed that an apparent mortuary mix-up had meant the wrong person had been buried at Mr Alder’s funeral.

His sister, Janet, has spent the last 13 years campaigning about various aspects of his death.

She took her case to the court in Strasbourg, alleging that there had been a violation of the substantive aspects of Article 3, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and Article 14, which prohibits discrimination, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

She also alleged “a breach of the procedural guarantees” of Article 3 along with Article 2, the right to life.

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Today, the court said it had discontinued the case after receiving the Government’s statement.

It said: “Having regard to the nature of the admissions contained in the Government’s declaration, as well as the amount of compensation proposed - which is consistent with the amounts awarded in similar cases - the court considers that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application.”

The Government has agreed to pay Ms Alder 26,500 euros (£22,770) in compensation and 7,500 euros (£6,440) in costs.

Ten years ago, a coroner’s jury returned a verdict that Mr Alder was unlawfully killed and in 2002 five Humberside Police officers went on trial accused of manslaughter and misconduct in public office but they were cleared of all charges on the orders of the judge.

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Four years later, an Independent Police Complaints Commission report said four of the officers present in the custody suite when the black former paratrooper died were guilty of the “most serious neglect of duty”.

Humberside Police Chief Constable Tim Hollis apologised at that time “for our failure to treat Christopher with sufficient compassion and to the desired standard that night” but the Police Federation said the officers involved “strongly disputed” the report’s conclusions.

Mr Alder’s sister brought a civil action against the Crown Prosecution Service, claiming she would have been treated differently if she had been white, but she lost her legal challenge in March.

In its statement to the court, the Government said: “The Government of the UK regret the occurrence of the actions which have led to the bringing of the present application, in particular the treatment in custody of the applicant’s brother Mr Christopher Alder and the anguish that his treatment and his death have caused to the family.

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“They accept that the lack of an effective and independent investigation in this case amounts to a violation of the procedural obligations in Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Further, the Government accept that the treatment that the applicant’s brother received in police custody amounted to a substantive violation of Article 3 with 14 of the Convention.”

The statement went on to detail a range of changes which have taken place in the UK which it said “will assist in leading to the prevention of the sorts of circumstances that surrounded the applicant’s brother’s death.”

Ms Alder’s campaign has been supported by the group Liberty.

In a statement issued through Liberty, she said: “It has taken 13 years to break through what I see as a reluctance of the organisations dealing with controversial custody deaths to hold police officers accountable, or to believe or consider whether police officers could be capable of severe maltreatment of citizens within their custody.

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“Why or where did Christopher sustain the additional injuries he suffered? Why was another of his teeth missing? Where was his belt? These concerns have never been investigated or addressed.

“It has taken bringing an action in the European Court of Human Rights - and judges there unanimously acknowledging my complaints were admissible after watching the horrific video of Christopher’s death - to force the Government to apologise for failing to hold the officers responsible accountable.

“It wasn’t hard to see that my brother - an ex-paratrooper decorated for his services - was denied his right to life; that his treatment was inhuman and degrading and that race played a part in his death.

“This case underlines the importance of human rights laws - without such laws these failings by the Government would never have come to light.

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“This has had a massive negative impact on my life and my family, who wanted nothing more than the truth for those responsible to be held accountable.”

Corinna Ferguson, legal officer for Liberty, said: “The Government’s unprecedented apology and admission of blatant violations of fundamental human rights are hugely significant and certainly not before time.

“But more than 13 years on still no one in the police has been held responsible for Christopher’s shocking death. Proper accountability is vital in these situations and in future the IPCC must take stronger, more decisive action where serious human rights violations occur.

“The offence of misconduct in public office is completely inadequate in these circumstances - as demonstrated by the fact that these officers were somehow cleared of it. Sadly admissions and apologies will matter little if such tragic cases keep occurring.”

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Humberside Police said it was aware of the findings of the court and these were now being considered by senior officers.

Chief Constable of Humberside Police, Tim Hollis said: “This finding is a reflection of the 2006 IPCC investigation, which thoroughly considered all of the issues with regard to Humberside Police handling of the Alder investigation.

“At the time of the IPCC’s announcement, I made a full apology to the Alder family on behalf of the force.

“I would now seek to take a period of time to reflect on this latest ruling before issuing any further statement, if appropriate.”

A South Yorkshire Police investigation into the mix-up over Mr Alder’s body is continuing.