LAWYERS ACTING on behalf of Shukri Abdi’s family are suing Greater Manchester Police.

Their civil action claims that the police force breached the Human Rights Act during their investigation.

Tragically, the body of the 12-year-old schoolgirl Shukri Abdi was found in the River Irwell in Bury, Greater Manchester on June 27 in 2019.

She was with a group of four children when she died. For legal reasons, those children cannot be named.

In December last year, an inquest ruled that her death was an accident. A coroner found there was no evidence of intention to kill Shukri.

Now, lawyers have launched a civil action against Greater Manchester Police for breach of the Human Rights Act, on behalf of Shukri’s mother.

The civil action claims that GMP failed on several points, one of those being that they did not speak with all the children at the scene on the day they were called. They spoke to just two children on the day. The other two, they spoke with at a later date.

They also think that police did not thoroughly investigate before they ruled that the drowning was an accident. Other factors such as Shukri’s inability to swim, that she never usually socialised with those children and that she always came home after school were not adequately considered, they claim.

Shukri Abdi’s family were refugees who arrived in the UK in 2017, as part of a scheme to protect the most vulnerable immigrants.

Greater Manchester Police has been under intense scrutiny recently. the force has been placed under special measures for failing to record crime, and more recently The Voice explored the force’s disproportionate use of taser against marginalised communities.

A GMP spokesperson said: “The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out an independent investigation and reviewed GMP’s response following the death of Shurki Abdi. 
 
“The IOPC concluded their investigation and no learning was identified for GMP.

“Following the Inquest, a civil claim has been started and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this time.

“Our sincere thoughts remain with Shurki’s loved ones and those affected by her death.”