Death of Jeremiah Duggan

Jeremiah Joseph Duggan
Born(1980-11-10)10 November 1980
North London, England, UK
Died27 March 2003(2003-03-27) (aged 22)
Berliner Straße, Bundesstraße 455, Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany 50°03′38″N 8°16′59″E / 50.060617°N 8.283164°E / 50.060617; 8.283164
Resting placeHighgate Cemetery, London, England, UK
NationalityBritish
MovementLaRouche movement
Parent(s)Erica Duggan, Hugo Duggan

Jeremiah Joseph Duggan (10 November 1980 – 27 March 2003) was a British student in Paris who died during a visit to Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, after being struck by several motorists on a dual carriageway. The circumstances of Duggan's death became a matter of dispute because, at the time he died, he was attending a youth "cadre" school organised by the LaRouche movement, an international network led by the American political activist Lyndon LaRouche.[1]

German police concluded that Duggan had committed suicide after running several kilometres (miles) from the apartment in which he had been staying, then jumping in front of early-morning traffic. A British coroner rejected a suicide verdict in 2003 after hearing the London Metropolitan Police describe the LaRouche movement as a political cult. Duggan telephoned his mother, Erica Duggan, fifty minutes before he died, apparently distressed about his involvement in it.[2][3][4][5]

Arguing that German police had not investigated the case thoroughly, Erica Duggan commissioned forensic reports which suggested the car crash might have been staged and that Duggan had died elsewhere. After protracted litigation in the UK and Germany, the High Court in London ordered a second inquest in 2010,[6] and in 2012 the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court ordered the Wiesbaden police to reopen their investigation.[1][7] In 2015 the coroner upheld that Duggan had been killed in the accident, but rejected a suicide verdict, adding that unexplained injuries suggested an "altercation at some stage before his death."[8][9]

The LaRouche movement attributed criticism of its involvement in the case to LaRouche's political opponents, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US Vice President Dick Cheney, who they say sought to discredit LaRouche over his opposition to the 2003 Iraq War and his criticism of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming.[10][11][12]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Mueller19Nov2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Muir, Hugh. "Mystery death of anti-war student", The Guardian, 12 July 2003.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kirby28Aug2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kirby, Terry. "Coroner denounces cult suicide claim", The Independent, 4 November 2003.
  5. ^ Muir, Hugh. "British student did not commit suicide, says coroner", The Guardian, 5 November 2003.
  6. ^ "Fresh inquest into student death", BBC News, 20 May 2010.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Schmale18May2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Taylor, Matthew. "Jeremiah Duggan's death not a suicide, British coroner rules", The Guardian, 21 May 2015.
  9. ^ Barfield, Tom. "Family's ten-year quest for truth about dead son", The Local, 22 May 2015.
  10. ^ Steinberg, Jeffrey. "Behind the Kelly/Wilson/Duggan Affair: Anatomy of a Defamation Campaign" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2009.
  11. ^ "London 'Friends of Dick Cheney and Al Gore' Behind New Slander of LaRouche". Executive Intelligence Review. 25 March 2007. pp. 40–42. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007.
  12. ^ Samuels, Tim. Newsnight, Newsnight, BBC News, 12 February 2004, 3/3, 00:05:19.