Christopher Alder
Christopher Alder, 37, died in police custody in Kingston upon Hull (UK), in April 1998.
Alder was assaulted outside a nightclub and was taken to a hospital. At the hospital he started behaving erratically so the hospital staff called police. He was arrested by two police officers and taken to a police station.
On arrival at the police station Alder was “partially dragged and partially carried,” handcuffed and unconscious, from a police van and placed on the floor of the custody suite. Officers laughed and joked between themselves and speculated that Alder was faking illness. Twelve minutes later one of the officers noticed that Alder was not making any breathing noises and although resuscitation was attempted, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In May 2021, Alder’s sister told the press that so far, no person or organization has been held responsible for her brother’s death, so she continues to fight for justice for him.
MASS MEDIA ABOUT THE CASE:
“Seeing the footage of my brother – out of reach on the screen – bound, motionless and treated so inhumanely, became the very worst moment of my life. I just stared in shock,” Alder’s sister said.
Hull Live
“I read [postmortem reports] and thought, ‘There’s nothing on here saying that Christopher shouldn’t be walking about ‘til this day.’ I kept reading and was learning about how they burned his clothes, police officers’ clothing was dry-cleaned and returned, they hadn’t done blood smears. They were basically trying to say that they didn’t know how he died, that it was inconclusive,” Alder’s sister said.
Vice
CASE STATUS:
The FBI initiative group requested clarifications on the current case from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Justice Minister and Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland, and British Home Secretary Priti Sushil Patel. The initiative group considers it necessary to combat police brutality and, if necessary, can provide legal and informational assistance to the family of the victim.