“As the black rep I am going to say a few things. This was brought to my attention at the National Conference 2005 TUC LBGT and it was something I was going to write an article about. I am concerned that the police can be a very macho, sexist, racist, homophobic place and as a result certain sections of society can be let down by the police. In saying that there are great policeman out there who are professional and act in that manner. I have personal experience of unsympathetic policeman when he knew that my complaint was about an ex using my name to open accounts and break other laws. I feel the police need to address these problems in the service they give the LBGT, black and Asian community more support. They need to find and get rid of policeman who are racist, homophobic and sexist and the investigations need to be done by an outside organisations. I have little faith in organisations like the government and local government services doing a thorough investigation that is not biased against the victim and is fair. I can give you personal experiences where I have had to do this against so-called insurance companies, councils etc. The police need to look at their recruiting and take on and vet people who have these prejudices and not take them on. They are not paid for their prejudices or dislikes and they must give a fair service to the whole community regardless of their race, background, sexuality or gender. It’s time for things to move on and I hope the same recommendations from the Steven Lawrence report become law in all laws affecting minority groups, especially LBGT people who have had little or no protection under the law until recently compared to other groups. Laws do not change people’s opinions but they can make people aware of their behaviours and what their responsibilities are and the consequences of those actions”
Jay Black Members Rep July 2005.

The PCS ADC 2005 supported a call for justice for Jay Abatan and his family as a result of Jay’s racist murder in January 1999. Michael Abatan, [brother of deceased Jay Abatan], presentation to national conference highlighted a catalogue of injustices resulting in a denial of justice, leaving the Abatan family having to fight to obtain withheld police reports that detail the inadequacies of how Jay’s murder was mismanaged by police.

Background
Justice for Jay Abatan
Jay Abatan, a 42- year old black man was murdered in a racist attack by a gang of white men in Brighton on 24 January 1999. The murder took place at the end of a night out when Jay, his brother and friend were out celebrating, Jay’s recent promotion in the Inland Revenue. His brother Michael and a friend were also attacked. All sustained hospital treatable injuries. The extents of Jay’s injuries were such that he had to stay in hospital. Five days later, Jay died in hospital, having sustained fatal head injuries. No one has yet been tried for Jay’s murder. Six years on, Jay’s family continue to campaign for those who killed him to be brought to justice. Both Jay and Michael were members of the PCS.

Diary of an injustice
July 1999
Following complaints by members of Jay’s family, Essex police are asked to carry out an inquiry into the initial police investigation.

May 2000
Two men are arrested and charged with manslaughter - by the time of the trial these charges are reduced to affray and actual bodily harm to Michael, which both are cleared of. The jury is not told of Jay's death as the judge ruled the information would prejudice the trial. In court, Sussex police officers give good character evidence for the defendants – they did not tell the family they had relations with the defendants before the court case.

December 2000
The Essex police inquiry report is completed. Its contents remain undisclosed but leaked extracts in the national press catalogued 57 failings and inconsistencies in the original investigation into Jay’s murder. As a result of the report, a new team launches a second investigation. Sussex police announce they are treating Jay’s murder as a racist killing - two years after it took place.

The family call on the PCA to review the investigation for possible disciplinary action against the officers involved. This review is conducted by Avon and Somerset police. Their report also remains undisclosed to Jay’s family.

December 2004
An internal police tribunal into the investigation finds a number of failings on the part of the Detective Superintendent of Sussex police.

June 2005
The recent tribunals have confirmed that the DSI had not conducted reviews into the case, which in turn mislead the home secretary Jack Straw into believing the investigation had been “thorough”. The tribunals also revealed that standard practices such as setting up an incident room and using the Holmes computer were not done in this case, - even though other similar incidents were given incident rooms. Officers were also told to prioritise other cases and to only work on this investigation in their “down time”. No overtime was allowed on The Jay Abatan case. Despite the tribunals finding the officers guilty on a number of the counts, there has only been minimal disciplinary action taken against the officers.

Jay's family are calling for the release of the Essex police inquiry report and the Somerset and Avon police report, both they believe highlight serious flaws in the investigation into Jay’s murder, which should have followed the Lawrence Report recommendations.

This case has the backing of the National Assembly Against Racism and Doreen Lawrence. It highlights that the institutional racism faced by black people including the Lawrences, is still alive in the police today, despite the recommendations of the Lawrence report. The failings of this case occurred as the Lawrence report was published.

Update
Findings of the Independent Police Complaints concluded that there were serious organisational failings in the police investigation. Although two suspects were arrested within 24 hours, manslaughter charges against them were dropped for lack of evidence. Jay’s family believes that the lack of evidence was due to the police not conducting a properly resourced investigation. For instance, the police did not interview potential witnesses who were present at the scene of the killing; neither did the police treat the nightclub or the taxi rank where Jay was killed as crime scenes.

The support already received from PCS has been critical to the campaign – this has included -

AS BOTH MICHAEL AND JAY ABATAN WERE MEMBERS OF PCS THIS CASE HIGHLIGHTS ACUTELY WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO BLACK MEMBERS OF TRADE UNIONS. THE ABATAN CAMPAIGN ALSO PRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PCS TO CONTINUE IN ITS TRADITION OF HELPING THE LAWRENCES, TO RAISE AWARENESS AROUND RACIST INJUSTICE, ESPECIALLY AT A TIME WHEN A FAMILY CAMPAIGN IS MOST IN NEED OF THE WEIGHT OF THE NATIONAL TRADE UNION MOVEMENT, THAT PROVIDES THEM WITH A PLATFORM AND SUPPORT THAT WOULD IS CRITICAL IN GETTING THEIR VOICES HEARD.