| |
Delroy Phillips |
Open verdict on death as cop admits losing CCTV footage
A police officer has apologised to the family of a man who died in a Soho alleyway for losing crucial CCTV footage showing his last moments alive.
As the inquest into the death of Delroy Phillips, 28, came to a close more than a year after it opened, coroner Dr Paul Knapman recorded an open verdict. He said this was due to the fact Mr Phillips had been under the influence of crack cocaine when he hanged himself in January 2008, dismissing claims from his family that he may have been murdered.
Dr Knapman said there was “no credible evidence of foul play”.
Wednesday afternoon’s hearing at Westminster Coroner’s Court was the fourth attempt to determine the circumstances of Mr Phillips’ death after the previous hearing was halted in dramatic fashion when the dead man’s sister told the court that contrary to police evidence she had seen footage that showed two men following her brother into the alley minutes after he was seen alive.
Detective Constable Ismail Mattar, who saw the footage that shows Mr Phillips entering the rubbish storage area off Broadwick Street on the morning of January 10 before it was lost, said he wished he could show the family for themselves to quash the unanswered questions. He gave evidence that nobody entered the alleyway until 2.30pm on the afternoon Mr Phillips was found – more than four hours after he went in.
He told the court: “Ideally all the footage would be shown to the family. I want to show you what the CCTV shows.”
Mr Phillips, from Bermondsey, south London, had been out of prison for just two weeks after serving a five-year sentence for attempted robbery. His family and girlfriend of 12 years, Stephanie Ryland, said he was not the “type” to commit suicide, and had been in high spirits during the start of his year-long probation. At the previous hearing in March, Mr Phillips’ younger sister, Katrice Burke, 17, who was not in court to hear the conclusion, also made the claim that she had heard two men bragging that they had murdered her brother, speculating that he had made enemies in prison who might want revenge.
Explaining his verdict, Dr Knapman said: “I am satisfired that Delroy Phillips hung himself. My difficulty with reaching a verdict of suicide is that the coroner must be satisfied that the person was capable of knowing what they were doing at the time.
“Delroy Phillips was under the influence of cocaine at the time of his death. I am recording an open verdict because I am not clear on what was intention at the time of his death.” |
 |
|
|
| |
| |
