UK / Europe Network Meeting

The Dart Centre Europe organises bi-monthly get-togethers for our UK / Europe network. These events are by invitation only, for journalists who are fellows or who have attended a DCE retreat. 

This time I nvestigative journalists Clare Sambrook and Rebecca Omonira will share with us their impressive investigation into the “accidental” death of Rashan Charles, a young black Londoner. Since the morning after his death in July 2017, Clare and Rebecca were first to challenge the official narrative. The Metropolitan police claimed Rashan was taken ill and an officer came to his aid. In fact Rashan was in perfect health until an officer threw him to the ground and subjected him to prolonged restraint.

Rebecca and Clare have worked closely with Rashan’s great uncle, a former senior Metropolitan police officer, to craft and publish his informed analysis of the video evidence. Last summer Rebecca was the only journalist to attend every day of the inquest into Rashan’s death, her reporting illuminated by the months of pre-inquest investigation. This work continues.

At our network meeting they will touch upon themes that make this field of journalism emotionally challenging such as working solo, covering inquests away from home, racial trauma, repeat viewings of distressing video material and pathology reports and working closely with bereaved families. 

It’s a unique opportunity for us to learn from and exchange notes with two of our network members on an underreported beat that has huge implications for human rights, public safety and holding power to account.

The second half of the evening is dedicated to socialising, catching up with Dart affiliated journalists and meeting new network members. 

Chatham House rules apply at these events to enable sharing of experiences, which is also why we keep them relatively exclusive to our network members. They are encouraged to bring interested colleagues but we ask that they need to register them with us first. 

If you are interested to find out more, please contact our DCE Program Manager Jeanny Gering - [email protected]

The event starts from 6:30pm, the talk and discussion starts at 7pm.