Thousands attend Mark Duggan funeral

Thousands lined the streets of Tottenham to pay tribute to Mark Duggan, the man shot dead by police in early August.

His family had expected up to a thousand mourners, instead, many thousands came out in no small measure, to pay their respects but also to serve notice on the police and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) that their role in this, particularly the ‘misinformation’ after the shooting, needs to be thoroughly investigated.

During the funeral it was Mark’s partner and mother to their children Simone Wilson who led the tribute with a message read out by her sister Michelle Palmer Scott.

"Mark, my love, my friend and father of my children, my first real love - we laughed together, we cried together, we faced trials and tribulations together. We had our ups and we had our downs but through it all, I loved him...I can't believe you're gone, I can't believe you're not here. But you will always have that special place in my heart...I don't understand why you're gone so soon. Now you are in heaven smiling down on us and you will always watch over us. No matter what the people say, your love for me was here to stay."

Last night, on the eve of the funeral, Mr Duggan's brother Shaun Hall, 42, accused officers of presiding over a "shoot-to-kill policy", questioning why police had blasted him in the chest rather than a non-lethal part of the body.

Those helping with the organising of the funeral, including local community leader Stafford Scott and Lee Jasper, have been urging restraint for the whole as passions run high throughout the area.

Simon Woolley

Picture: Mourners at Mark Duggan's funeral