21.03.1996

Lethal gas claims first victim

The police now have another weapon in their armoury: CS gas spray. No one can deny its effectiveness - just ask the Sey family. Ibrahima Sey, a 29-year old Ghanaian-born asylum seeker, became the first victim of CS spray on Saturday, when police officers overpowered him at his home following a ‘domestic disturbance’.

Sey is yet another victim of police brutality. Ten police officers took it upon themselves to intervene in this ‘domestic disturbance’ by spraying Sey with the CS ‘incapacitant’, beating him, handcuffing him and then dragging him into a police van. His sister, Awa Sey, said that Ibrahima did not resist arrest at any stage.

Given the fact that Sey suffered from hypertensive heart disease, it is hardly surprising that he died at hospital. Afterwards, a spokesman for the Association of Police Officers issued a statement: “There is no evidence to suggest the CS spray contributed to this tragic death. There are no plans to suspend use of this spray.”

CS spray was introduced at the beginning of this month to more than 2,000 officers in 16 authorities in England and Wales, as part of a six-month trial period.

The spray is a potentially lethal substance which the state wants to deploy against all those who it defines as ‘subversives’ or ‘unwanted’. It is significant that the first person targeted was a young black asylum-seeker, not a dangerous criminal. Not for the first time, the spectre of racism hovers over the killing of Ibrahima Sey, the fourth black man to die in police custody in just over a year.

Ironically, a police inspector is currently suing for compensation after suffering burns to his eyes during a CS gas test in Northampton last summer, which led to the trials being temporarily suspended. This was kept quiet of course, as the police authorities would not allow anything to dent the image of the ‘harmless’ gas.

The civil rights group Liberty has called for the end of the CS trials and for the publication of information about the dangers of the spray. Such a call should be supported by all the left, while never forgetting to stress that any weapon or law in the hands of the police will ultimately be used against the working class and the revolutionary movement.

Paul Greenaway