Family demands bodycam footage one year after man's death

The family of a young man who was found dead after being released from police custody are calling for the body-worn camera footage to be released a year on from his death.

Mohamud Mohammed Hassan, 24, was arrested at his flat in Newport Road, Cardiff, on January 9 last year on suspicion of a breach of the peace.

Mr Hassan was taken to Cardiff Bay police station at about 10pm and released without charge the next morning at about 8.30am. He died later that day.

The expectant father's family claim he returned home that day battered and bruised after being assaulted by police officers during his time in custody.

A post-mortem examination failed to establish the cause of Mr Hassan's death.

An inquest into his death will be held at South Wales Central Coroner's Court in Pontypridd in May.

Meanwhile an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is still under way.

So far six members of South Wales Police, four officers and two custody sergeants, have been served misconduct notices.

However on the first anniversary of Mr Hassan's death, his family have called for "honesty and answers".

They say they believe both the police force and IOPC "have conspired to cover up, obscure, frustrate, delay and dispute" their search for the truth.

They ask that the video footage from Mr Hassan's night in the cells be released immediately.

The IOPC has refused to release it in case it may be needed as evidence for criminal, misconduct, or inquest proceedings.

"We have repeatedly requested that the IOPC provide the family and our legal team access to the video showing the final hours of Mohamud's life," they said.

"Despite our repeated requests the family have been consistently denied access by the IOPC.

"Had the footage of Mohamud's last moments been released to us, then we would have been spared the slow torturous agony of consistently speculating day by day on precisely what happened to him that awful night.

"We believe that all families of those that die in suspicious circumstances in police custody should have an automatic right enshrined in law to get immediate access to police bodycam footage showing exactly what happened during their final moments on this earth.

"In stark contrast, we see in the US, after a death in police custody, police bodycam videos being released on demand to families in the immediate aftermath of such incidents.

"One year on from the untimely and suspicious death of our beloved family member we remain in shock at the treatment we received from IOPC throughout the last year.

"Six Cardiff police officers are now under investigation and the only reason we believe that happened was due to our relentless questioning of the police version of events."

Several Black Lives Matter protests and vigils were held outside Cardiff Bay police station in the months that followed Mr Hassan's death.

The family are being backed by Shavanah Taj, general secretary of the Wales TUC, who said: "Given historical allegations of institutional racism levelled at South Wales Police and other recent cases of police brutality, we need to ensure that the investigation is subjected to independent legal scrutiny, supported by independent expert witnesses."

Zita Holbourne, national chairwoman and co-founder of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts, added: "It's a national scandal that a year on the Hassan family have no idea how Mohamud died, and yet both the IOPC and South Wales Police have had unrestricted access to this footage.

"It's utterly unacceptable, and the attorney general should instruct the IOPC to release the police bodycam footage immediately."

Campaign spokesman Lee Jasper said: "The release of this footage should be a matter of human rights and families should be given unrestricted access to police bodycam footage.

"We call on the public to support this critical demand."

• south wales police