Harry Stanley

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Harry Stanley (c. 1953 - 22 September 1999) was a painter and decorator shot dead, in controversial circumstances, by the police.

Harry Stanley was born in Bellshill, near Glasgow, Scotland, where he lived for the first 19 years of his life. In the early 1970s Stanley moved to London in search of work and he married his childhood sweetheart, Irene. He had 3 children, and grandchildren, and lived in Hackney, East London. The 46-year-old painter and decorator had only recently been released from hospital after an operation for colon cancer at the time of his death.

On the 22 September 1999 he was returning home from the Alexandra Pub in South Hackney carrying, in a plastic bag, a table leg that had been repaired by his brother earlier that day. Someone had phoned the police to report "an Irishman with a gun wrapped in a bag".^[1]

Close to his home, Inspector Neil Sharman and PC Kevin Fagan, the crew of a Metropolitan police Armed Response Vehicle challenged Mr. Stanley from behind. As he turned to face them, they shot him dead at a distance of 15 feet (5 metres)^{[citation needed]}.

The first inquest jury in 2002 returned an open verdict.^[2] Stanley's family were unhappy with this outcome, particularly as the coroner, Dr. Stephen Chan, had only allowed the jury to return either a verdict of lawful killing or an open verdict.^[3]

His widow, Irene, petitioned the High Court and succeeded in obtaining a judicial review of the first inquest.^[4] On 7 April 2003 Mr. Justice Sieber ordered a fresh inquest after ruling that there had been an "insufficient inquiry".^[5]

During the new hearing, coroner Dr. Andrew Reid heard that the two officers fired the shots after being given wrong information in a tipoff, they had been told that Mr Stanley was carrying a weapon and had an Irish accent.^{[citation needed]} The new jury returned a verdict, in November 2004, of unlawful killing^[6], which resulted in the suspension of the officers involved.^[7]

In protest at their suspension over 100 armed officers returned their weapons, with Glen Smyth, a Police Federation spokesman saying, "The officers are very concerned that the tactics they are trained in, as a consequence of the verdict, are now in doubt."^[8] The officers' suspensions were lifted shortly afterwards.^[9]

In May 2005 the High Court decided that there was "insufficient evidence" for the verdict of unlawful killing, overturning it and reinstating the open verdict of the first inquest.^[10] Mr. Justice Leveson also decided a third inquest should not be held, but added his weight to calls for reform of the inquest system.^[11] Glen Smyth described the ruling as "common sense"^[12], but the campaign group Inquest was disappointed, saying the verdict sent "a message that families cannot have any confidence in the system. They feel they cannot get justice when a death in custody occurs."^[13]

On 2 June 2005 the two officers involved in the shooting were arrested and interviewed, following an investigation by Surrey Police involving new forensic evidence.^[14] The Crown Prosecution Service decided in October 2005 not to press charges, saying that they "concluded that the prosecution evidence is insufficient to rebut the officers' assertion that they were acting in self defence".^[15]

On 9 February 2006 the Independent Police Complaints Commission published their report into the incident, recommending that no further disciplinary action be taken against the officers.^[16] Representatives of the Stanley family expressed their "bitter disappointment" and stated the case was a failure of the criminal justice system. ^[17] ^[18] The Metropolitan Police Federation stated, "We are, of course, delighted by the vindication of the officers. But we remain deeply disturbed at the way the whole matter has been handled."^[19] The report did make notable recommendations to the police in the post-incident procedure to be followed after a shooting.^[20]

Chumbawamba wrote a song about Stanley, Without Reason or Rhyme (The Killing of Harry Stanley). It appeared in the 2003 album, Readymades and Then Some.