London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

Hundreds march to remember those who died in state custody

Hundreds march to remember those who died in state custody

Annual memorial procession through London calls out names of growing number of people who died at hands of state

Hundreds of friends and relatives of people who died in prison or police custody have held a procession through central London in remembrance and calling for justice for their loved ones.

Supporters of the United Friends & Families Campaign gathered in Trafalgar Square just after midday on Saturday for the march, which has taken place every year in London since 1999.

They carried banners with photos and pictures of those who they say had died at the hands of the police and state, and called out their names as they marched.

“It’s an annual memorial. It’s in memory of all loved ones that have died at the hands of the state in the United Kingdom, and we are remembering them today,” said Marcia Rigg, 57, from Mitcham.

Rigg’s brother, Sean Rigg, suffered a heart attack in Brixton police station in 2008 after he was restrained by police while suffering an episode of mental ill health. She is now the chair of the UFFC.

“It’s a memorial procession as opposed to a protest march, even though it is a protest against the non-accountability of any of these deaths in custody,” Rigg said. “I’m certain there is not one family here that has received justice.”


The UFFC was started in 1997. Among the founding members was Brenda Weinberg, whose brother, Brian Douglas, was killed when he was struck in the head with a baton by a police officer in 1995.

Standing in the crowd with her daughter, Weinberg, now 61, from Wimbledon, said: “It’s just sad that 22 years on we are still doing this, and there are still new families. That’s the sad part.

“It would have been Brian’s birthday yesterday.”


After gathering in Trafalgar Square, protesters marched down Whitehall towards Downing Street. Rigg led the march, chanting the names of men and women including Jean Charles de Menezes, Joy Gardner, Olaseni Lewis, and, a more recent addition, Sarah Everard.

“We stand in solidarity with Sarah Everard’s family, and my only wish is that they could be standing with us today; but we are marching with her as well,” Rigg told the Guardian.

At Downing Street, the march shared space with a noisy protest against the military coup in Sudan, with speakers’ amplified voices battling to be heard over the other protesters’ chants and airhorns.

Among those who spoke was Ajibola Lewis, the mother of Olaseni Lewis. Her son died after being restrained by police at Bethlem royal hospital in south London in 2010, after checking himself in voluntarily for a mental health episode.

“Seni was 23, a graduate,” she said. “He went into a place of care, but he was killed.”

Keshia Johnson had travelled from Manchester with her family. Her 17-year-old brother, Ronaldo Johnson, died in April after the car he was riding in as a passenger crashed during a police chase.

“We have just been batted from the police to the IOPC [Independent Police Complaints Commission] for information, but we are no wiser as to what’s happened,” she said.

“It needs to change. It needs to stop.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
×