Mark Duggan shooting: Bullets results 'within 24 hours'

Mark Duggan was fatally shot by police in Tottenham Hale on Thursday

Results of ballistics tests following the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan should be known within 24 hours, independent investigators have said.

The 29-year-old father-of-four was shot by police during an attempted arrest in Tottenham, north London, on Thursday.

Three shots were fired and a bullet was found lodged in a police radio.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) rejected claims that Mr Duggan's family were unhappy with a lack of contact from the commission.

It has confirmed that a non-police gun was discovered at the scene and a bullet was found in an officer's radio.

But it is refusing to comment on a report in the Guardian newspaper that the bullet was police issue - and therefore had not been fired by Mr Duggan.

An inquest into Mr Duggan's death is due to open at High Barnet Coroner's Court on Tuesday.

Forensic analysis

Mr Duggan was killed in Ferry Lane, Tottenham Hale, by Metropolitan Police officers working for Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime in the black community.

A police officer was injured in the incident and later discharged from hospital.

A peaceful protest outside Tottenham police station on Saturday was followed by a riot in the area and disorder and looting later spread across London.

Faith leaders and politicians, including local MP David Lammy and Haringey Council leader Claire Kober, are among those expected at vigil in Tottenham later in the wake of the weekend's violence.

In an updated statement, IPCC commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said "investigators are currently liaising with scientists at the Forensic Science Service regarding analysis on ballistics. We would anticipate being in a position to share verified results within the next 24 hours".

She added: "I am aware of various media reports suggesting that we have not had adequate contact with Mr Duggan's family since his death.

"Following my meeting with the family yesterday [Sunday] I am very clear that their concerns were not about lack of contact or support from the IPCC.

"Their concerns were about lack of contact from the police in delivering news of his death to Mark's parents.

"It is never the responsibility of the IPCC to deliver a message regarding someone's death and I have told Mr Duggan's family that I would be addressing this issue with the Met and that, if necessary, this would become part of our investigation."

The IPCC has said it was awaiting the forensic analysis to get a clearer picture of what happened and what shots were fired and in which order.

The commission urged people to be "patient while we seek to find answers to the questions raised by this incident".

Speculation that Mr Duggan was "assassinated" in an execution style involving a number of shots to the head was "categorically untrue", the commission added.

Mr Duggan's brother Shaun Hall told Sky News that the family was "devastated" by his death and dismissed as "utter rubbish" claims he had shot at police.

Claudia Webbe, who chairs Operation Trident's independent advisory group, questioned why Mr Duggan's family had not been contacted sooner.

She told the BBC that the IPCC investigation made it difficult for the police to be able to share information about the shooting.

"It does tie the hands of the police and, to some extent, tie the hands of our ability to be able to talk about what happened," she said.

"I think that that's been part of the difficulty in being able to give the very clear information that the family of Mark Duggan so desperately need.

"Forty-eight hours to even get any contact, seemingly, from the IPCC - had the contact been made with family sooner, it may not have meant that the family would want to go and protest in the first place."

'Way forward'

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh, of the Metropolitan Police, said there had been meetings with community representatives at both London and local levels but admitted the police should have helped the IPCC come closer to the family more quickly.

The IPCC said a non-police issue firearm was recovered from the scene

He added: "The frustrations from the community, the frustrations from the family are around a lack of understanding that the police are not allowed to give information around the independent investigation that's taking place into that shooting.

"If we're to maintain confidence with the family and communities more broadly, any time there's a death following police contact - and the shooting of Mr Duggan is one of those - that needs to remain away from the police."

Tottenham MP Mr Lammy urged people to "get behind" the police in policing the community and making sure people feel safe.

He added: "It's certainly my job to ensure that the Independent Police Complaints Commission move as quickly as they can to establish what happened to Mark Duggan last Thursday.

"I have raised questions about why things were allowed to escalate as quickly as they did over so many hours without proper intervention, I think, by the police."

Meanwhile, Reverend Nims Obunge, pastor of the local Freedom's Ark Church, who has been working with Mr Duggan's relatives, said: "It's important that we allow the IPCC to tell us where this investigation's at. It's important we allow them to communicate whatever their findings are with the family.

"It's important that we don't run off with a report, but we make sure that whatever is reported is handled in an accurate and in a way that we can heal ourselves as a community and look for the way forward.

"Justice is important, but we don't know what justice is totally yet."