Police reopen file on shotgun death

SCOTLAND YARD has reopened a seven-year-old inquiry into the death of a drug dealer after an original investigating officer admitted corruption.

David Cohen, 25, was found dead from a shotgun blast through his mouth at a flat in Poplar, east London, in 1992.There was no sign of a forced entry and no indication he had tried to fight off attackers. The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide while Mr Cohen's mind was disturbed by a high concentration of morphine.

But his family said no traces of gunpowder discharge were found on his hands, no fingerprints were on the gun, there was no suicide note and no reason for him to take his life. Mr Cohen's mother, Mary, and stepfather, Derek Kelly, complained that a proper investigation had not been made.

They appealed against the suicide verdict, which a High Court quashed in 1993. At a second inquest in 1995 thecoroner recorded an open verdict.

Now CIB2, the Metropolitan Police anti-corruption squad, has reopened the case. One of the investigating officers, Detective Constable Kevin Garner, has confessed to burglary, conspiracy to supply cannabis, handling stolen goods and conspiracy to pervert justice. He is currently awaiting sentence.