READING, UK – Aston McLean Williams, a 27- year-old father of two who was continually harassed by police seven months prior, was killed on Wokingham Road, Reading, Berkshire by unidentified police officers from Thames Valley, on Wednesday 06 August 2014, at 1.46am. Aston’s murder remains a mystery three months later.
Early coverage of the incident by mainstream media reported that a marked 4×4 police car collided with Aston when it responded to a burglary-in-progress call.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) reports that a 999 call from a member of the public claimed that two people were on the roof of a building.
An Armed Response Vehicle and other police cars responded to the scene. The caller reportedly indicated she/he saw one person jump down from the roof and run off, while the other, later identified as Aston. remained.
The IPCC indicated CCTV footage retrieved from Reading Council recorded the incident but is distorted and when enhanced does not clearly show what took place.
CCTV footage recovered from local shops were either not working at the time of the incident, were working but the window blinds were down, were not facing Wokingham Road, or did not cover the entire distance of the incident.
The footage, therefore does not show how Aston and the other person got on the roof or how and why Aston got off the roof and came to be chased by police, sprayed with mace and then hit with a police car containing Officer ‘N’ a trained driver and Officer ’P’ on a rural, traffic free street in the early hours of the morning.
The Armed Response Vehicle that is ordinarily fitted with a video camera that records from the front and rear , according to the IPCC report, did not contain a fitted camera and could not, therefore, assist their investigation
Info about Aston’s murder delayed and denied
The IPCC further reports that the cops called for an ambulance and paramedics, upon their arrival 15 minutes later, carried out medical treatment on Aston while the police car was still on top of him!
The police made referral at 2.55am—one hour and seven minutes after Aston was killed—despite the fact the police must immediately make referral to the IPCC following a death in custody or following contact with them.
The police notified Aston’s mother, Janet Williams, on or around 10:30am nearly eight hours later telling her Aston had a collision with a police car, giving her the impression Aston was in a car that had crashed with a police car causing his death.
The police left with no further contact within minutes of telling Janet the dreadful news.
The police defended the delay in notification claiming that they had made several attempts to locate Aston’s family, “deploying” officers to several addresses until they found his mother.
Janet, however, confirmed that Aston’s address was well known to Thames Valley Police because they regularly raided it since Aston had been the target of police harassment that intensified from January 2014.as .
Ordinarily in criminal cases interviews takes place soon after the occurrence of a crime primarily to prevent witnesses’ recollection of facts being lost with time.
When police officers are themselves the suspect/accused interviews takes places when the investigator decide it should occur, which is usually months after the incident.
In Aston’s case three months after his killing Officer ‘N’ was interviewed and only gave “no comment” as his responses. The other seven cops have not been interviewed four months later.
The street where Aston was killed was resurfaced a couple of days later, in spite of the ongoing investigation!!!
Conspiracy to conceal police terror
The post mortem which the IPCC attended confirmed Aston sustained the following injuries: “significant head injury; lots of injuries to face; severe abrasion to the left arm;
abrasions on left side in middle and on left hip/buttocks; some abrasions on left leg; indentations on skin appear to match the weaving from [Aston’s] jacket [caused by the weight of the police car on top of him]; right side of face significantly bruised;
right eye swollen; abrasions to the back of the right shoulder; abrasions across the back; left foot appeared bruised and swollen; no [s]utures on the skull and rib fractures visible on right and left side”.
The IPCC also confirmed the post-mortem examination revealed that there were no trace of mace found on Aston’s body or clothing.
The IPCC informed Janet the port-mortem examination/autopsy reports Aston was already on the ground when the police car ran over him indicating there was no collision between Aston and the police car.
In accordance with the ‘Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013 No. 1616’ Janet requested a copy of the autopsy report which she is entitled to receive free of charge however the IPCC and her own solicitor have denied her access to the document and are bizarrely pushing her [despite her not seeing the first] to get a second opinion where the report would cost her £2000 – £3000, which she does not have.
Despite the fact that Aston died at the hand of the State and his mother was/or is a resident of Reading West/Reading East constituency, local members of parliament Alok Sharma MP (Conservative) and Robert Wilson MP (Conservative) who knew or ought to have known what had happened to Aston failed to send their condolences to her and her family or assist the family in any way.
Cops kill Africans with impunity
Aston wanted to explore different countries and raise his two children; instead his life was cut short by the police.
The imperialist State, to contain the inevitable rebellion by the masses against the colonial regime imposed on us and maintains its economic and political advantage by force through the police.
No cop has been convicted for deaths that occurred in their custody, since the April 17, 1969 death of 39-year-old, David Oluwale—the first known and recorded African to be killed by UK police sergeant Kenneth Kitching and Inspector Geoffrey Ellerker based in Leeds, who were charged with manslaughter, perjury and grievous bodily harm but only found guilty of assault.
Aston’s murder epitomizes the ongoing reality of police brutality, violence and terror on African/Black people and our powerlessness as a Nation that makes us vulnerable to these atrocities.
.Furthermore, the IPCC, formed from ex cops and ex police civilians in 2004 to secure and maintain public confidence in the process of complaining against the police, has continuously demonstrated its inability to function fairly and independently like its predecessors the Police Complaints Authority (1985) and the Police Complaints Board (1977).
The IPCC only suspended Officer “N” from driving and like the other seven cops involved in Aston’s killing is back on duty as though the loss of Aston’s life meant nothing.
The IPCC cannot seriously be considered a source of justice for the African community.
Make cops stop killing—Organize!
There is nothing more dangerous than a killer with a badge, who is shielded by the IPCC and whose actions are stamped and sealed correct by the courts.
The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) calls on all Africans and lovers of justice to join the organization and use our collective strength to achieve community control over the police to STOP police murders and cover ups.
DEMANDS
· The arrest, trial and convictions of Officer N; Officer P and 6 other officers
· Reparations to the family of Aston McLean Williams
· Community control of the police
· End anonymity for killer cops
· End the public policy of police containment
· Real economic development for the African community
The InPDUM Revolutionary National Democratic Program (RNDP)
#16. We demand African community control of the police in our oppressed and exploited
communities in the domestic colonies of North and South America, the Caribbean
and Europe.
