Final farewell for shooting victim

 

Mourners have turned out to bid a final farewell to the police shooting victim whose death in north London sparked the first night of devastating riots across England. Amid lingering tensions between family members and detectives, the ornate cortege carrying the body of Mark Duggan made its way to his private funeral after passing through the Broadwater Farm estate. His coffin, in a white carriage pulled by four white horses with plumes on their heads, was adorned with flowers. Emblazoned on it were the words "grandson", "son" and "dad". Led by Mr Duggan's brothers Marlon Duggan and Shaun Hall, it was followed by a long procession of cars. Outside the New Testament Church of God in Wood Green the beat of a drum was heard as his funeral got under way. The father of four's death in Tottenham on August 4 triggered four nights of violence and looting which spread across the country. Mr Duggan's partner Semone Wilson paid tribute to her "first real love" in a message read out during the service by her sister Michelle Palmer-Scott. She said: "Mark, my love, my friend and father of my children, my first real love - we laughed together, we cried together, we faced trials and tribulations together. "We had our ups and we had our downs but through it all, I loved him." Mr Duggan was a passenger in a minicab which was apparently stopped by officers near Tottenham Hale Tube station before he was fatally shot.

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