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Death of Christopher Alder

Death of Christopher Alder
Christopher Ibikunle Alder
Date1 April 1998 (1998-04-01) (age 37)
LocationQueen's Gardens Police Station, Kingston upon Hull
CausePostural asphyxiation
Accused
  • Police Sergeant John Dunn
  • Police Constable Matthew Barr
  • Police Constable Neil Blakey
  • Police Constable Nigel Dawson
  • Police Constable Mark Ellerington
ChargesManslaughter
VerdictAcquitted on the instructions of the judge to the jury

Christopher Alder was a trainee computer programmer and former British Army paratrooper who had served in the Falklands War and was commended for his service with the Army in Northern Ireland.[1][2][3] He died in police custody at Queen's Gardens Police Station, Kingston upon Hull, in April 1998.[4] The case became a cause célèbre for civil rights campaigners in the United Kingdom.[5] He had earlier been the victim of an assault outside a nightclub and was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where, possibly as a result of his head injury, staff said his behaviour was "extremely troublesome."[6][7] He was escorted from the hospital by two police officers who arrested him to prevent a breach of the peace.[8]

On arrival at the police station Alder was "partially dragged and partially carried," handcuffed and unconscious, from a police van and placed on the floor of the custody suite. A conversation took place, during which custody sergeant, PS Dunn, initially told the escorting constables to take Alder to hospital. They pointed out that they had just come from hospital and that the hospital had discharged Alder. The officers speculated that Alder was faking illness, a view which PS Dunn accepted. Alder's handcuffs were removed before all the officers went behind the front counter of the custody suite. At this point, the officers were off camera, but the custody CCTV system continued to capture the audio of their conversation. The officers laughed and joked with one another, and there was a discussion about what Alder should be charged with.[9] During one conversation, an officer can be heard making multiple rhythmic noises, which some subsequent examiners alleged were monkey noises, a form of racist abuse against black people. However, this interpretation has been disputed.[10][11][12]

Twelve minutes later one of the officers present noticed that Alder was not making any breathing noises and although resuscitation was attempted, he was pronounced dead at the scene.[13] A post mortem indicated that the head injury alone would not have killed him.[14] The incident was captured on the police station's closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.[15]

A coroner's jury in 2000 returned a verdict that Alder was unlawfully killed. In 2002, five police officers went on trial charged with Alder's manslaughter and misconduct in public office, but were acquitted on the orders of the judge. In 2006, an Independent Police Complaints Commission report concluded that four of the officers present in the custody suite when Alder died were guilty of the "most serious neglect of duty" and "unwitting racism".[16] In November 2011 the government formally apologised to Alder's family in the European Court of Human Rights, admitting that it had breached its obligations with regard to "preserving life and ensuring no one is subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment". They also admitted that they had failed to carry out an effective and independent inquiry into the case.[17]

  1. ^ Duncan, Natricia (5 August 2014). "'We Will Not Give Up Until We Get Justice'". The Voice. London. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Police condemned over man's death". BBC News. 27 March 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  3. ^ Wainwright, Martin (25 August 2000). "'He's right as rain, it's just a show'". The Guardian. London. p. 1. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Death in custody police suspended". The Guardian. London. 2 May 1998. p. 6.
  5. ^ Hartley, Emma (10 April 2001). "Judge rejects police officers' claim of juror bias at inquest into former soldier's death". The Independent. Retrieved 8 April 2011.[dead link]
  6. ^ Wainwright, Martin (30 November 1998). "Arrest death: 5 suspended". The Guardian. London. p. 4.
  7. ^ Stokes, Paul (4 July 2000). "Mystery of police station death". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  8. ^ "Death in police cell charges". The Guardian. London. 24 July 1999. p. 9.
  9. ^ IPCC (2006). Report, dated 27th February 2006, of the Review into events leading up to and following the death of Christopher Alder on 1st April 1998 (PDF). IPCC. pp. 47–48.
  10. ^ IPCC (2006). Report, dated 27th February 2006, of the Review into events leading up to and following the death of Christopher Alder on 1st April 1998 (PDF). IPCC. pp. 142–145.
  11. ^ "Christopher Alder custody death: Sister demands justice 20 years on". BBC News. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  12. ^ Sanders, Andrew; Young, Richard; Burton, Mandy (2010). Criminal Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 224. ISBN 9780199541317.
  13. ^ Burrell, Ian (4 July 2000). "Police 'thought dying man was play-acting'". The Independent. London. p. 10.
  14. ^ "Death in custody case review". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham. 25 August 2000. p. 6.
  15. ^ Wainwright, Martin (4 July 2000). "CCTV may hold clues to death of black man in custody". The Guardian. London.
  16. ^ Campbell, James (5 June 2020). "My black brother died in police custody in Hull – the George Floyd similarities are scary". Hull Daily Mail. Hull. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  17. ^ "Government pays out over death of 'wrong body' Falklands veteran Christopher Alder". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. 22 November 2011.
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