Henry Bruce Stanley (2 May 1953 – 22 September 1999) was a Scottish painter and decorator who was shot dead by the Metropolitan Police in London in contentious circumstances.
[citation needed] On 22 September 1999, Stanley was returning home from the Alexandra Pub in South Hackney carrying, in a plastic bag, a table leg that had been repaired by his brother earlier that day.
[2] At the junction of Fremont Street and Victoria Park Road in South Hackney, close to his home, Inspector Neil Sharman and PC Kevin Fagan, the crew of a Metropolitan Police Armed Response Vehicle challenged Stanley from behind.
[7] During the new hearing, coroner Dr. Andrew Reid heard that the two officers fired the shots after being given wrong information in a tipoff; they had been told that Stanley was carrying a weapon and had an Irish accent.
[13] Glen Smyth described the ruling as "common sense",[14] but the campaign group Inquest was disappointed, saying the verdict sent "a message that families cannot have any confidence in the system.
[18] Representatives of the Stanley family expressed their "bitter disappointment" and stated the case was a failure of the criminal justice system.