Black Flag 216 index

Roger Sylvester



On January 11th, 8 coppers went to Roger Sylvester's house after being told that a naked man was "acting very strangely". He was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to St.Ann's hospital. He was seen by a doctor who left the room. At some point during the doctor's absence "Mr.Sylvester went all limp and it was obvious that he had collapsed." He was then taken to Middlesex Hospital where he died 7 days later.

Sylvester, aged 30, was the 42nd black person to die at the hands of the police in the last decade. The Metropolitan Police are responsible for 27 of those deaths. This will be an opportunity to see if the Met have learned anything from the Stephen Lawrence case. WE won't be holding our breath.