INQUEST

The trial is using the Taser 7 model, which the Scientific Advisory Committee have warned may induce more pain than previous models.

INQUEST’s casework has repeatedly highlighted how the use of Taser can contribute towards death, including in the deaths of Marc Cole and Andrew Pimlott.

A week ago, the government authorised a trial for specialist officers to use Tasers in men’s prisons.

Concerningly, the trial has no end date, as it will continue to run until 'enough data has been collected to determine if they should be more widely used.’

www.gov.uk/government/n...

Newsletter: August 2025 Latest updates on the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, the fight to remove crown immunity from prisons and tributes to people killed by the police.

✨ INQUEST NEWS

Read our summer newsletter for the latest updates on

🟣why families won't give up until we have a full Hillsborough Law
🟣tributes to people killed by the police across decades
🟣the campaign to remove crown immunity from prisons
🟣updates on our Unjust Deaths heritage project

Great to meet with constituent Jess alongside Deborah Coles, CEO of @inquest-org.bsky.social, to discuss the urgent need for a National Oversight Mechanism.

I'm committed to working cross-party to champion this campaign to make sure recommendations are acted on.

Deaths in prison increase by 30% compared to previous 12 months 31 July 2025

Latest statistics show a 30% increase of deaths in prison & the highest rate of self-harm since records began.

Despite this, no meaningful action is being taken to address the root cause of why deaths & self-harm are increasing in prison: an over-reliance on punishment to deal with social issues.

From Memory to Memorialisation: INQUEST’s Memorialisation Working Group How do we remember those who have died at the hands of the state? Alfie reflects on how our Memorialisation Working Group is coming together to build a legacy for those who have died and those left be...

Legacy is at the heart of INQUEST’s recent work on heritage, archiving & memorialisation.

Our working group explores how we can memorialise those killed by the state.

In a new blog, Alfie Neill reflects on the group & how you can shape future projects.

Today Chris Kaba should be turning 27. Instead, he was killed by Met police in 2022.

We’re bringing back a special episode of Unlawful Killing with his father, Prosper Kaba, to honour Chris and & in solidarity with his family's ongoing fight for justice.

Listen & share pod.link/1717049291/e...

Today, MP Blair McDougall introduced a Bill in Parliament to remove crown immunity from prisons.

Following the deaths of Katie Allan and William Lindsay in HMYOI Polmont in Scotland, he calls for accountability.

INQUEST backs the move to end legal impunity for prison failures.

'Cockroach-infested' Pentonville Prison illegally detains inmates Data shows 130 inmates were held illegally, after their release date, in the last six months.

@hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social have issued an urgent notification to the gvmt about HMP Pentonville. They found:

⚫prisoners illegally imprisoned beyond their release date
⚫prisoners held in squalid cells for more than 22 hours a day
⚫inadequate support for prisoners at imminent risk of self-harm

Margaret Aspinall's son James was one of the 97 people unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough Football Disaster.

She tells BBC Breakfast why a Hillsborough Law is needed to protect ordinary people & that she will not accept a watered down version.

Watch the full interview youtu.be/egT54XwEMkA?...

A chance encounter threw me into the campaign to expose the police killing of Jean Charles de Menezes. What happened next changed my life It’s 20 years since the innocent Brazilian man was shot dead at Stockwell station after being mistaken for a terrorist in the aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings. A few days later, I found myself sta...

It’s 20 years since Jean Charles De Menezes was killed by police at Stockwell station.

Former INQUEST worker Yasmin Khan reflects on standing at his vigil all those years ago and the ripples of resistance that followed his death.

Speaking after the inquest, Azroy's sister Shay Inico, said:

"My brother, Azroy Dawes Clarke, died in the most shocking circumstances - restrained, neglected, and dehumanized while prison staff and paramedics who were trained to save lives stood by and did nothing."

Azroy Dawes-Clarke: Jury finds unnecessary and disproportionate restraint caused the death of Black man at HMP Elmley 11 July 2025

Azroy Dawes-Clarke, a 28 year old Black man, was a semi-professional football player & loving father of four.

Now an inquest jury has found that inappropriate & disproportionate restraint contributed to his death at HMP Elmley. They also found a 'deeply concerning lack of care & compassion.'

The Independent Sentencing Review is misguided in its attempt to solve the prison crisis Rebecca Gascoigne reflects on the Sentencing Review, how it extends punishment beyond the prison walls and how it fails to challenge routes into the criminal justice system.

With 88,000 people currently in prison in England & Wales, prisons are at 98.9% capacity.

INQUEST volunteer Rebecca Gascoigne reflects on the Reviews misguided recommendations, how it seeks to extend punishment beyond prison walls & how it fails to challenge routes into the criminal justice system.

These findings and rising drug use in prisons are deeply connected. Prisons are not places of safety or support — they are environments that cause and compound harm.

📉 As we’ve shown in our work with Release, we need harm reduction — not criminalisation — to address drug-related harms in prison.

HMIP’s report found that
🔹 Use of force against prisoners is rising — including use of PAVA spray
🔹 Self-harm & self-inflicted deaths remain extremely high
🔹 1/4 of women surveyed said they developed a drug or alcohol problem while in prison
🔹A failure to act on recommendations following deaths

📢 @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social latest report highlights the devastating impact of drugs in prison.

We agree this is a serious & urgent issue. Between 2008-19, at least 145 people died drug-related deaths in prison.

But it’s not one that can be solved with more punishment & security measures.

On Mon 30 June, a packed event at St Ethelburga’s in London examined state impunity in Britain and Northern Ireland, co-hosted by @finucanecentre.bsky.social, @cajni.bsky.social, @inquest-org.bsky.social and the International Expert Panel convened by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. 🧵

Newsletter: July 2025 Updates on our trip to Parliament, Hillsborough Law, Grenfell, police racism and a historic trial of a NHS Trust.

✨INQUEST NEWS

Read our latest newsletter to find out more about
🟣Our No More Deaths campaign
🟣The ongoing fight for a Hillsborough Law
🟣Investigations into the deaths of two Black men who died following police restraint, 300 miles apart
🟣A historic trial of an NHS Trust
🟣Our third memorial banner

A group of people stand in front of a colourful wall, holding signs which say 'I support the National Oversight Mechanism' and 'No More Deaths.' Carla Denyer MP is in the group.

Brilliant to join @inquest-org.bsky.social to speak to MPs from a range of parties about the need for a National Oversight Mechanism to stop people dying preventable deaths. Lots of support for my #NoMoreDeaths Bill - I'll keep pushing for justice and accountability for deaths in state care.

Today, we remember the 6 people who died in the Lakanal House fire in 2009.

We continue to call for action to be taken to remove unsafe cladding from homes and to implement recommendations to prevent the risk of future deaths.

NO MORE DEATHS CAMPAIGN Join INQUEST's No More Deaths campaign to end preventable state related deaths.

Thank you @carladenyer.bsky.social for organising.

Please write to your MP to encourage them to sign Carla’s Early Day Motion and support our campaign to end preventable deaths.

Use our letter template
www.inquest.org.uk/no-more-deat...

Great meeting in Parliament today on the ongoing need for a National Oversight Mechanism.

We urgently need government to set up a new independent body to ensure real change following inquests and public inquiries.

#NoMoreDeaths

Work for us INQUEST is currently recruiting for a caseworker.

Passionate about social justice, collaborative creation and memorialising?

Apply for a paid 3-month residency at @inquest-org.bsky.social.

Explore themes of state violence, death, grief and abolition through community engagement and creative practice.

buff.ly/MRZgdbL

Total project fee £6,000

Under-fire NHS trust recorded patient ate breakfast three days after he died The mental health trust where Alice Figueiredo took her own life faced concerns over 20 other deaths.

An Old Bailey jury found a London NHS Trust guilty of health & safety breaches in the care of 22-year-old Alice Figueiredo, an inpatient at Goodmayes hospital.

Alice's death is not an isolated incident. Coroners have raised serious concerns over the deaths of 20 other patients in the last 10 years.

I would like to thank the 166 fellow parliamentarians who have supported my letter today calling on the PM to deliver ‘The Hillsborough Law’ as he promised in the 2022 & 2024 Liverpool party conferences.

A watered-down replacement will not be accepted nor befitting to be called ‘Hillsborough Law'.

We welcome the amendment to the Mental Health Bill put forward by @ndironsmp.bsky.social today which calls for independent investigations after deaths in mental health detention — this is something INQUEST have long pushed for, in line with how deaths in police or prison custody are investigated.

Come & hear our Director @debcoles13.bsky.social speak alongside other instrumental human rights advocates at @finucanecentre.bsky.social 's event on state impunity & how it is resisted across Britain & Northern Ireland.

Mon 30 June, 6-8pm
St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation & Peace, London

@joepowell.bsky.social asked the Deputy PM whether 'alongside the Hillsborough Law, the Government will consider some independent oversight so that victims from the Post Office to Hillsborough to Grenfell know inquiry recommendations will actually lead to real change?'

#NoMoreDeaths

Collateral Echoes premieres during @sheffdocfest.bsky.social 18-23 June and will remain open to the public until 13 July at Site Gallery.

The exhibition blends mixed reality (XR), performance and moving image to honour those from Black and immigrant backgrounds who died after police contact.