Support truly
independent journalism
Mark Duggan’s son has been jailed for owning a Soviet semi-automatic pistol - 13 years after his father was shot dead by Metropolitan Police with his killing sparking the Tottenham riots.
Kemani Duggan, 23, known by his rapper name Bandokay, was sentenced to five years in prison after admitting he had a pistol and 22 cartridges with intent to cause fear of violence.
The drill artist, who raps about the effect of his father’s death when he was 11, claimed he was seen as “no more than his father’s son” in Tottenham’s Broadwater Farm estate and had become a target for other gangs and would only use the Tokarev pistol to scare attackers away.
His associate Abdou Bojang, 22, from Hackney in north London, pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition without a firearm certification.
The Old Bailey was told on Friday how police had raided Bojang’s parents’ flat in Hackney last March 21.
The firearm and rounds were discovered in the communal underground car park on a concrete ledge inside a JD Sports bag, which also contained two foot-long knives.
Duggan’s DNA was identified on the gun slide and he was arrested at Gatwick airport on January 13.
On his phone was a Snapchat photograph of the same gun and 23 rounds.
Just before the gun was found, Bojang had messaged Duggan: “Yooo bro, where yu, There’s feds in my block akh. I might be getting nicked.”
Prosecutor Diana Wilson said Duggan, of Islington in north London, was a well-known drill artist associated with the Old Farm Boys (OFB) criminal gang based on the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham.
She said: “The prosecution expert has concluded that there is no question that over the years he is an elder or senior gang member in the OFB.
“One consequence of this is that he would naturally be at a heightened risk of violence from rival gang members, this would be additionally heightened by his status as a successful drill artist and the son of Mark Duggan which raises his profile to would-be attackers.”
She added: “As a result of his fame, he has become a target for violence from others associated with urban street gangs.”
Ms Wilson said Duggan’s accepted plea was made on the basis that he was provided with a firearm and ammunition to protect himself.
Duggan had asserted he would only have carried the gun to “scare any prospective aggressor away”.
Mitigating, Gregory Fishwick said Duggan expressed the long-term effects of losing his father in his lyrics.
Duggan had “tried to get away from that” and be a “proper father” to his own son, Mr Fishwick said.
Sentencing, Judge Philip Katz KC said: “It is accepted that there were grounds for a fear that people might try to attack you, Duggan.
“You have a high profile, arising not only from your own career as an artist in the genre of drill rap, with all its gang associations, but also from your unfortunate life history.”
The defendants waved to supporters in the public gallery as they were sent down from the dock.
Duggan’s 29-year-old father Mark was shot dead in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011.
Armed officers had intercepted a minicab Mark Duggan was travelling in on the basis of intelligence that he was carrying a gun.
A pistol was later found around seven metres away from the minicab.
Mark Duggan’s shooting, by an officer known only as V53, sparked riots in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and other English cities for nearly a week.
Kemani Duggan told the Guardian in 2019: “Whenever [the police] see me, they stop me.
“I get what they’re trying to do – they’re trying to take weapons. But I know they purposely stop me more than anyone else. They know who I am. They know who my dad is. So that’s why I’m trying to go through music and do something positive, so they don’t have nothing to say about me.”
