Documents from three inquiries lost in the post

The aunt of Mark Duggan has joined the calls for answers after the Ministry of Justice confirmed it had lost three sensitive files in the post.

The Ministry of Justice has suspended a member of staff and launched an independent review after two discs containing files from inquiries on Mark Duggan and Azelle Rodney, both shot dead by the Met Police, and Robert Hamill, who was beaten to death by a loyalists in Northern Ireland, went missing in the post.

In a statement on the Justice For Mark Duggan website, Carole Duggan said: "The criminal justice system went out of its way to protect the identities of the officers who killed Mark, issuing all manner of reporting restrictions and anonymity orders in court.

"Now we learn that this apparently sensitive information has been 'lost in the post' at the Ministry of Justice.

"How did this file go missing? And why? Scotland Yard and the ministry have questions to answer if we are ever going to get to the bottom of why Mark was shot dead while unarmed and surrendering to police."

The loss of two discs containing information on three sensitive inquiries by the Ministry of Justice is "an appalling lapse" in security, Labour have said.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: "This is an appalling lapse in security concerning highly confidential information on very sensitive investigations.

"It would be disastrous if this data got into the wrong hands.

"The Justice Secretary needs to get an urgent grip on this situation and set out what the Government is doing to find this data and reassure the public that measures are in place to prevent it happening again."

Prime Minister David Cameron said the Ministry of Justice were "absolutely right" to have taken action after files relating to three judge-led inquiries, including two fatal police shootings, went missing.

A member of staff has been suspended from the Ministry of Justice and an independent review has been set up to find out how the two discs containing the information went missing in early January.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The results of the internal investigation that the MoJ has undertaken have been set out by the department.

"It's absolutely right that they looked into that and have taken the action that they have."

The families of two men have said they will be seeking answers after the Ministry of Justice admitted files from three inquiries have gone missing in the post.

The inquiries centre on Azelle Rodney and Mark Duggan, who were both shot dead by the Met Police, and Robert Hamill, who was beaten to death by a loyalists in Northern Ireland.

The family of Mr Hamill said they would be seeking "urgent answers" after the loss including whether the information on the disc was encrypted, when the disc was posted and how long it took before the loss was discovered.

"We will be seeking details of the content of the material and whether it included confidential information not previously published on the Inquiry website. We will want to know what protocols, if any, were breached in relation to the posting of material in this way," the family said.

Mr Rodney's mother Susan Alexander said she also wanted to establish what data was on the discs.

Ms Alexander said: "This is shocking news and very disappointing. My lawyers are in contact with the Ministry of Justice on my behalf to establish exactly what data from the case (including that relates personally to me) is on the discs that have gone missing."

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said the force has undertaken a risk assessment of the material that was on the discs and has taken "appropriate steps".

A member of staff has been suspended from the Ministry of Justice after files from three major inquiries went missing in the post.

The Ministry of Justice said an independent review had also been set up to find out how the information was lost.

The inquiries centre on Azelle Rodney and Mark Duggan, who were both shot dead by the Met Police, and Robert Hamill, who was beaten to death by a loyalists in Northern Ireland.

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice, said: "Government officials became aware on 8 January that two discs containing documents relating to these inquiries were missing, having been dispatched by post.

"Immediate steps were taken, including intensive searches to locate the discs.

"These searches continue with police assistance. The discs have not, as yet, been found."

Treasury Solicitor’s lawyers said they were reviewing whether any of the lost information posed a risk to anyone if it got into the wrong hands.

The MoJ said individuals will be contacted, where appropriate, to inform them of any personal information relating to them.

The Ministry of Justice has admitted information from three judge-led inquiries, including two fatal police shootings, have gone missing in the post.

They relate to the Azelle Rodney Inquiry, the Robert Hamill Inquiry and the Mark Duggan Inquest.

An MoJ spokesman said: "The government takes information security extremely seriously and this incident is a breach of the arrangements that should be in place.

"At this stage there is no evidence to indicate that the information loss arose from malicious intent."