Dear IRR News subscriber,

The iniquities of the criminal justice and immigration systems are examined in detail this week, from deaths in custody to the ‘fast-tracking’ of asylum seekers.

Jenny Bourne looks at the recent not guilty verdict in the trial of ex-police officer Anthony Long for the murder of Azelle Rodney, the first prosecution of its kind, and asks whether police officers’ claim of self-defence in the face of ‘angry’ and ‘abnormally strong’ black people is in fact a licence to kill.

We also have a financial appeal from the Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA) campaign group which is crowdfunding for a case at the Supreme Court over the doctrine of joint enterprise that has seen hundreds of young people (many from BAME communities) jailed for peripheral (or no) involvement in serious crimes. We also republish a blog by law student, Josh Radcliffe, who watched a recent joint enterprise prosecution in ‘action’.

Ryan Erfani-Ghettani assesses a recent BBC series on the Met police to ask how far the media is reinforcing official narratives around public order policing. Similar close cooperation is also examined (via information obtained under the FoI Act) in the case of Julian Cole, which reveals the formulation of an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) press release in consultation with Bedfordshire Police.

IRR News’ immigration law specialist Frances Webber scrutinises the history of the ‘detained fast-track’ system for asylum claimants and the recent decision to suspend it following a Court of Appeal ruling, while, in a personal reflection, Harmit Athwal recalls a community’s response to the death by self-harm of one desperate Syrian asylum seeker.

A number of important cases involving racially-motivated violence which have recently been before the courts are summarised. And finally, our regular calendar of racism and resistance, a fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlights key events in the UK and Europe.

IRR News team