I submit that before it adjourns the House should debate the disturbing issue raised by the mounting evidence of death and serious violence sustained by persons in police custody, the need for an independent inquiry into its possible causes and remedies, and the extreme difficulty—not to say the virtual impossibility—of carrying through to a successful conclusion complaints against the police, however overwhelming the evidence.

An enormous amount of documentary evidence, including the statements of several witnesses, has accumulated in the case of Jimmy Kelly, who met his death in Liverpool six months ago, almost to the day, and also in other cases, notably those of Liddle Towers in Northumbria and James McYearn in Glasgow. It is acutely worrying.

Kelly, according to witnesses, was severely beaten and kicked as he was arrested by Huyton police. He died within one hour. An independent post mortem found that he had received multiple injuries, that his jaw was fractured in two places by an impact on the chin, which tore the jaw away in one direction while fracturing the other side as the jaw bone twisted, and that he had a crushed vertebra and no fewer than 32 bruises on his body. Six months have passed, yet no prosecutions have been initiated.

It is disturbing that that case and the others that I have quoted are in no sense isolated. Figures given to me by the Home Office show that since 1970 no fewer than 143 persons have died from unnatural causes while in police custody, and that excludes suicide. That is an average of over 15 persons a year. Moreover, the number per year has been steadily increasing. In 1970 it was three persons, and in 1978—the last full year—it was 30 persons. Apart from the rapidly escalating number, there are several other worrying aspects.

First, I am concerned that the Home Office does not keep the figures centrally and does not receive routine reports from chief constables. In the light of the worrying figures that have been collected, I hope that the material will now be routinely collected and monitored centrally. I should like an assurance that that will be done.

Secondly, contrary to what is often asserted in defence of the present system, there is not always an inquest. In 23 of the 245 deaths in police custody since 1970—that is, nearly 10 per cent. of all cases—there was, for some reason, no inquest. However, even when there is an inquest it is still scarcely satisfactory procedurally, because there is no opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. That which happened at the Jimmy Kelly inquest tends to bring inquests into disrepute.

I quote one of the statements made by the Jimmy Kelly action committee: On Friday 22nd June at 10.45 a.m. the coroner's officer, sergeant Harvey, opened and adjourned an inquest on the late James Kelly. At that opening a member of the family asked a number of questions, one being what James had died of. The sergeant said he had an idea, but refused to say what his idea was. He was asked if James had any bruises on his body other than what was visual, and said only one mark at the back of his neck and one mark on his leg. He was also asked if there were any internal injuries, and he said no.The family was not satisfied with these answers and decided to get an independent pathologist. The findings of the independent pathologist were that James Kelly suffered multiple injuries, his jaw was fractured in two places, he had a damaged vertebra,32 bruises on his body, both wrists were heavily marked by handcuffs and he had a lacerated toe. Also it came to light that the first pathologist, Dr. John Benstead, had taken the heart out, left it out and did not inform the family about this. That shows clearly that the inquest procedure needs to be greatly tightened.

The third factor that worries me about the figures supplied by the Home Office—after seven weeks of waiting I am grateful to have them—is the question of what constitutes a non-natural cause of death. That item includes misadventure in 62 cases, accidental death in 39 cases and an open verdict in 15 cases, as well as two cases of manslaughter and two cases where no verdict was given.

There can be no doubt that the categories are pretty broad and, I think, rather deceptive, although I am sure that they are not intended to be. They are deceptive in the form in which they are given. A great deal more needs to be known about the precise circumstances leading to death in each case before public disquiet at these alarmingly high figures is likely to be assuaged.

Another cause of concern is the dividing line between what constitutes a natural cause of death and what constitutes a non-natural cause. For example, if a man chokes on his vomit, presumably that is entered as a natural cause of death. But what if that followed that man being severely roughed up in his cell? If he died from a heart attack, presumably that would be a natural cause. But what if that followed some severe violence having been meted out to him?

The initial police reaction causes me a good deal of concern. The initial reaction in explaining the death of Jimmy Kelly was to say that he died of a heart attack. Over the past decade the number of deaths while in police custody—no fewer than 66 from natural causes and 36 from suicide—are high enough to warrant further investigation.

My last concern—I believe it to be a matter of public concern—lies in the regional breakdown. For example, why did the Metropolitan area, with one-fifth of the population, have double that proportion of the total number of deaths while in police custody—slightly over 100 of the 245? Certain other areas seem to have an unduly high number of deaths. There were 14 on Merseyside, 11 in Greater Manchester, 14 in West Yorkshire, 11 in the West Midlands and 11 in South Wales. The numbers in those areas were far higher than in other parts of the kingdom. It is important to know whether there are special causes.

Those are the reasons why I ask the Home Secretary to set up an inquiry, before the House adjourns, to establish the full facts surrounding the issue. I have given the figures only for England and Wales. I have recently been informed by the Lord Advocate's Department that over the past four years in Scotland a further 24 persons died from non-natural causes while in police custody. If we take England, Wales and Scotland as a whole, no fewer than 21 persons, on average, have died in each of the past 10 years from non-natural causes while in police custody. I submit that that is a horrifyingly high figure.

We are not talking about South Africa. Our police have a reputation to be preserved. It is not compatible with the figures. For the sake of the police themselves rather than for anyone else, the full facts need to be investigated. Until that happens, I do not believe that public confidence will be fully restored. That view is shared by 110 other hon. Members, who signed early-day motion 255 calling for an inquiry to examine the possible causes of this pattern of violence and to consider what changes in procedure or practice need to be made to reduce it and ultimately to eliminate the trend. I hope that the Home Secretary will heed the demand of so many hon. Members.

I am aware that the Police Federation is opposed to the setting up of an inquiry. That is only to be expected. Mr. Jim Jardine has said that compared with the total number of arrests each year the number of persons who died in custody was "a decimal point". I submit that the families and relatives of the 21 persons each year who have died from non-natural causes while in police custody would not write them off as a decimal point—nor would the great mass of British people. Therefore, I hope that the Home Secretary will set up an inquiry.

I hope, too, that the inquiry will examine three further related matters. One such matter is my proposal to deter violence. The Home Secretary should set up on an experimental basis—for example, in half a dozen areas initially—a panel of visitors with the right of access to police station cells for unannounced visits, or visits with the minimum practicable notice, to take statements from prisoners who allege police violence against them. The panel should seek to validate the truth or otherwise of such statements. I realise that in many cases they may be malicious. The panel should make regular reports to the Home Office on the police authority in the areas in which it is operating. There are many historical precedents for inspections of such a sort to deter maltreatment of persons under guard.

Secondly, the inquiry should be asked to review the present powers of police committees and to consider whether they should be extended to secure proper public accountability of the chief constables, who are the chief executive officers responsible to the committee and the makers of policy.

Thirdly, the inquiry should examine the sheer futility of the present police complaints procedure. Last year 27,000 complaints were made against the police. Half of those complaints were not pursued. Of the 13,000 that were pursued, 4,000 were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Half of that number involved serious charges of police assault. Virtually none of them was referred for prosecution. Of the 13,000 complaints investigated by the Police Complaints Board, precisely 15 led to disciplinary proceedings being taken. Almost all of these concerned mere technical irregularities in procedure. Only one serious charge led to disciplinary action, and that concerned corruption and not assault.

Of the 2,500 complaints made to the board concerning alleged police violence, not one led to action being taken against the police. In view of that and in view of the now publicly known facts about the death of Jimmy Kelly and several others, it is scarely surprising that the police complaints procedure suffers from a major credibility gap.

For these reasons, I believe that a full inquiry into the issue is now greatly overdue. Before the House adjourns I hope that the Home Secretary, in the face of all the evidence that I have given, will accept that it is his duty to set up such an inquiry.