Mark Duggan: the shooting that set London alight

One death in Tottenham, five nights of riots across England, and an inquest whose findings are still argued over a decade later.

On 4 August 2011, Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old British man from Tottenham, was shot dead by police in Ferry Lane, North London. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's firearms unit had stopped the taxi he was travelling in as part of an operation to arrest him on suspicion of planning an attack.

The police said officers opened fire after Duggan was seen to reach for a weapon. A gun was found at the scene — a converted BBM Bruni pistol that had been modified to fire live ammunition. Whether Duggan ever fired it, or even held it at the moment he was shot, became the central question of the case.

Within hours of the shooting, a protest gathered at Tottenham police station, demanding answers. The protest turned violent, and the disorder spread across London and then to cities across England. Over five nights, buildings were burned, shops were looted, and five people were killed in the disturbances.

The riots were the most serious civil disorder in England for a generation, and they made Duggan's name known around the world. For many, his death became a symbol of police violence and mistrust; for others, the presence of the gun made the police's account harder to dismiss.

An inquest in 2014 heard 56 days of evidence before the jury concluded that Duggan was lawfully killed, finding that police had believed he posed an imminent threat. The family's legal team called the verdict 'surprising', and the case remains a fault line in British public life.

Ten years on, the shooting is still argued over. What is beyond dispute is its aftermath: a single death in Tottenham that set fire to the streets of England, and an inquest that satisfied almost no one.