Too little, too late

Nothing can compensate us for the loss of our Anu, losing him has left a void that we can never truly fill. His future and ours has been changed forever. 

Today, we came to the end of a painful three weeks of listening to how those selected for the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) - many barely out of their teens - faced the impossible pressures of frontline policing whilst studying full-time for a degree.

Anu became a police cadet because he wanted to make a valuable contribution to society. But when Anu asked for support, because he was struggling, the institutions he placed his trust in - West Yorkshire Police and Leeds Trinity University - failed him.

We have heard evidence that, on multiple occasions, his supervising sergeants at best failed to recognise - and at worst, contributed to his declining mental health.

We have heard now how he was given 'bollockings' that were witnessed by his whole team.

Policing culture based on fear and discipline is not the answer. A modern, supportive police force must welcome officers like Anu, who had so much to give. Bollocking is bullying.

We have always maintained that Anu was bullied by his supervising sergeants. They found him an easy target who didn't answer back and whose gentle nature was taken for submissiveness.

The coroner decided that there is no evidence that from the beginning of January 2023 his mental health was escalated; or that his mental health was addressed in any way. Instead, he was punished and forced onto development plans.

Anu's union rep recognised this when she emailed his line manager a day before his passing stating that such plans commonly cause anxiety levels to 'hit the roof'. Tragically, she was the last West Yorkshire Police Officer who Anu reached out to in a final cry for help.

This was not a safe environment.

The Coroner has recognised that there are serious flaws with the training of student police officers, so much so that she has decided to issue a Preventing Future Death report that addresses concerns at a UK-wide level.

We believe that universities and police forces need to have clearer oversight, scrutiny, and standardisation of the operational practices of University-Police Partnerships- particularly regarding student health wellbeing- if they are to be continued at all.

Disappointingly this inquest did not consider the endemic institutional racism and culture of bullying dressed up as 'stern discipline' which persist within the Force. Our Anu is another casualty in a long line of others and we will continues to demand scrutiny on these two issues. Racism and policing is an explosive combination with dire consequences for people of colour but nothing seems to change.

We disagree with the Coroner that Anu's death was not preventable. Anu was set up to fail. He never had sufficient support, particularly after he told his superiors that he was considering ending his own life. We cannot fathom how and why the Coroner has come to that conclusion and believe Anu's death could have been prevented if the appropriate fail-safes had been in place. Sadly, it is too late for Anu and for our family.

People should not have to face racism, cultural bias, workplace bullying. As we consider our next steps, we ask that the media and political leaders show bravery by taking concrete steps to address institutional racism and hold public bodies to account. 

We are continuing to ask for your support in donating to and sharing this crowdfunding page, because we have not yet reached our target. We still have outstanding legal fees to pay, as we have only made 24% of our goal so far. We still have time to make what we need, and so we need your help in continuing to support our fight to demand justice for our son, especially while we consider our next steps post-inquest.

Our beautiful, generous and happy boy is missed every single day. We have lost a son, a brother, a friend. We thank everyone who has supported us throughout this time including family, friends and kind-hearted strangers who continue to believe that Anu is worth fighting for.

In particular, we thank local community organisations in Manchester, such as Kids of Colour and The Northern Police Monitoring Project, who work locally to support families and young people, and who have been by our side throughout.

We would also like to thank The Monitoring Group in London, as well as the Abrahart family, and their campaign - ForThe100. They have been a great source of support. Finally, we are grateful to our legal team, Daniel Lemberger-Cooper from Imran Khan and Partners, and Paul Kingsley-Clark at Garden Court Chambers for their unwavering belief that Anu's case is worth fighting for. 

You can contact Daniel Cooper on [email protected] or 02074043004 

As we head towards the end of the Coronial Inquest into our son's tragic passing - we reach out to thank each and everyone one you for your words of support, your generosity and your involvement in Anu's story. It has been a very hard three weeks of listening to those who could have made the difference between life and death,  dodge and absolve themselves of all culpability.  We called for a full and fair inquest,  but at this stage of the process we honestly cannot say what any decision will look like.  Regardless, we pledge to continue to campaign for #Justice4Anugrah and for all young people whose cries for help so often go unheard, and all families who have been affected by police violence.

We are asking for your support to either:

• Show up if you are able to, to Rochdale Coroner’s Court next Tuesday 29th October from 11:30am to support our family on the Coroner's decsion day (Please contact Kids of Colour or the Northern Police Monitoring Project if you need financial help with travel costs)
• Share or donate if you are able to to our crowdfunding page, which is helping us cover the legal costs into our son’s death.

Thank you for all of your support so far, please follow our facebook and X pages for more regular updates. 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092194685923 

https://x.com/Justice4Anugrah

https://linktr.ee/justiceforanugrah

Midway through week 2 of our month-long fight, we continue to be grateful for every single person who has shown support on social media, in person or through sharing and donating to our crowdfunding page. 

Last week was the first week of Anu's inquest. It was hard going and even harder listening. While we can't comment on the proceedings, we can tell you that experienced so many emotions during our first week - confusion, heartbreak, fury, even resignation - but throughout, we have held Anu in our hearts and minds and know that the reason we are at this point is demand justice and accountability.

We are coming to the end part of week 2 now, and it is so clear to us that families are just thrust into this process with very little control over what happens. We know that we are not the only family who face mounting legal bills, and we are so grateful for the resources and support that we have access to. We want to especially thank everyone who has shown up to support us at court. Please continue to support us however you are able to. 

As we head into our third and final week of proceedings next week, we are specifically continuing to ask for support in-person at Anu’s inquest. Our family are calling for the public to attend Rochdale Coroner’s Court on the following important days of his Inquest:

Days that attendance are welcomed:

• Friday 18th October (evidence)
• Monday 21st October (evidence)
• Tuesday 22nd October (evidence)
• Thursday 24th October (legal submissions to the Coroner)
• Friday 25th October (proposed final day ruling)

We welcome you to come and support us any time from 9:30am onwards, breaks 1-2pm. Anu’s inquest is at:

Rochdale Coroner’s Court

Newgate House

OL16 1AT

Please contact Kids of Colour or NPMP for travel reimbursements. If you are attending, please make sure you wait outside the building and not in the waiting area, until court begins. More information is here: https://x.com/npolicemonitor/status/1845738952101388368

#Justice4Anugrah

Today marks the beginning of our family's 3 week long inquest into the death of our beloved son, Anu. We want to thank each and everyone of you for your words of support, solidarity and your continuing generosity.  At a time when our world has been up-ended, our only aim is to ensure that Anu's death will not have been in vain and that other young people will not suffer as he did. 

We stand strong in our knowledge that those responsible for our loss are the institutions that failed Anu. This, along with your support, gives us the strength and energy for this case, and to hold those that harmed our boy to account for their actions.The support of friends, family and strangers has been immeasurable. We still have a long road to go though before we can afford to pay our lawyers for representing us and our son at this inquest. If you can, please continue to share or donate to our crowd funding page to help us win this fight. 

Please also continue to follow our pages and if you can, you are welcome to show up to Rochdale Coroner's Court any day over the next three weeks to support us.  We have not reached our target as we start this inquest but know that your continued support and sharing of Anu's story will help us to pay our legal costs. 

You can see our family's press release here:

https://www.ikandp.co.uk/post/inquest-touching-upon-the-death-of-anugrah-abraham 

and you can follow our X and facebook pages here:

 https://x.com/Justice4Anugrah 

https://www.facebook.com/people/Justice-for-Anugrah/100092194685923/?_rdr

#Justice4Anugrah

With just over two weeks to go until the start of our son's inquest, we were devastated to learn this week that our application for Legal Aid funding has not been successful. It is entirely unfair that families like our are rejected for legal aid due to cuts and restrictions in situations like this one, where we have already lost so much. 

The inquest into Anugrah's death and those who were responsible for it is due to begin on the 7th of October 2024. With our legal aid application being rejected, we find ourselves facing impossible choices. How can families take on public institutions and seek accountability if they cannot pay for legal representation? Our team @IKPpartners have been working tirelessly on our behalf since our nightmare began, but we cannot ask them to do this for free. 

We therefore have to turn to you, our friends, families and communities to ask you for your continuous support. Now, our only source of funding is this page, where we have only met one fifth of our target. We therefore must continue to push this campaign and so we ask you to share Anu's story again.

We are so grateful for all who have read our story and donated here. Please now share our story with your networks, so that we can get closer to our target costs.

Dear friends, family and supporters,

We are so grateful for the messages of support we have received, and the pledges that we have already been promised. It gives us faith and strength in our communities as we go into what will be a very tough period for all of us. Thank you to every single one of you who has shared our page so far, or donated to it. 

To reach our actual target we need to continue to ask for others' generosity. If you can, please share our page with your wider friends and networks, in your work spaces and newsletters, and with people or organisations that you know will be invested in our fight. For some further context:

• £10,000 will help us pay for an expert's report into Anu's mental health needs whilst he was working at West Yorkshire Police. This will crucially include who and what failed him in the days and weeks before he died. 
• £40,000 will help us pay for an expert's report, and also crucially cover our legal team's work to prepare for the inquest in October.
• £60,000 will allow us to do both these things, and to make sure that we are represented in person at the inquest by our barrister and solicitor for up to four weeks of inquest hearings. 

We have a long way to go and only 5 weeks left to raise the funds we need - please spread our message and help us continue on our way. 

Thank you.

Justice for Anugrah

Failed by the system