Tragic Shukri’s family sue GMP over ‘failings’
DROWNED SCHOOLGIRL’S RELATIVES ALLEGE POLICE INVESTIGATION WAS NOT ‘CONDUCTED PROPERLY’
THE family of a 12-year-old Somalian refugee who drowned in the River Irwell have launched legal action against Greater Manchester Police over alleged failings in the investigation into her death.
Shukri Abdi died after getting into difficulties in the river, near Bury town centre, during a heatwave in June 2019.
She was with four other children, who for legal reasons can only be referred to as child one, two, three and four. Last month, a coroner concluded that Shukri’s death had been a tragic accident.
The inquest heard how Child One had encouraged Shukri to go into the water despite knowing she couldn’t swim. Child One told Shukri she would look after her and would teach her to swim. Coroner Joanne Kearsley ruled that meant Child One had a duty of care to Shukri and breached that duty because she should have been able to foresee the risk of drowning.
But that breach, Ms Kearsley said, wasn’t serious enough to warrant a conclusion of gross negligence manslaughter. However, Shukri’s family allege she was unlawfully killed and that bullying and racism played a part.
GMP’s investigation found no evidence that Shukri was forced into the water or that a crime had taken place.
Solicitors representing Shukri’s family have now launched civil action for an alleged breach of the Human Rights Act.
It claims there were several failures in GMP’s investigation into her death, including not interviewing all four chilmanchestereveningnews. dren who were with Shukri on the day of the incident.
Two were spoken to on the day and the other two spoken to subsequently.
The lawyers argue that police should have investigated her death more thoroughly and that institutional racism played a part in the alleged failures in the investigation. They say the family believe their race and religion meant their concerns were not taken seriously, resulting in the investigation ‘not being conducted properly and prematurely concluded as an accident’.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation into GMP found no evidence ‘to indicate Shukri’s family were treated less favourably because of their ethnic background’ and found ‘insufficient evidence to suggest that GMP did not conduct a thorough investigation’.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins stood down after an investigation by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services found GMP had failed to record 80,000 crimes, warning that people were being ‘denied justice’. Attiq Malik, the solicitor representing Shukri’s family, said their criticisms of how they were treated by GMP ‘resonated’ with the report’s findings.
A GMP spokesperson said: “The Independent Office for Police Conduct carried out an independent investigation and reviewed GMP’s response following the death of Shurki Abdi. The IOPC concluded their investigation and no learning was identified for GMP. Following the inquest, a civil claim has been started and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.”