On 11 January 1999, one of the coldest nights of the year, at around 8.45pm, Roger Sylvester, on his way home, phoned a friend saying that he was being followed by police. Shortly after 9pm he greeted a neighbour outside his home and he was his usual cheerful self and fully clothed. Within 45 minutes he had sustained numerous injuries while being restrained by eight police officers outside his home.

He was taken to hospital where he collapsed, still being restrained. He fell into a coma and by midnight he was on a life support machine. Roger never regained consciousness and was declared clinically dead on 18 January.

The family was told that police had been called to Roger's home because he was seen naked banging on a neighbour's door. Yet none of his neighbours could sustain this.

The police said that he was not under arrest and was not aggressive or violent towards anyone but was being restrained merely for his own safety. Yet it took eight officers to restrain him and as a result of being restrained he suffered heart and kidney failure, severe brain damage and bruising to his body. He was seen being carried into a police van handcuffed, naked and in a limp state.

On arrival at the hospital, he was carried by five officers from the van, still handcuffed and naked and at no time at all did Roger walk or seem able to walk. He was placed on the cold floor of the treatment room in that hospital, still being restrained while awaiting medical attention. Throughout his ordeal Roger was left naked, on one of the coldest nights of the year. Not one of the officers felt enough pity to cover him up, bearing in mind they had his clothes. I am sure there are laws that protect animals from such inhumane treatment.

The autopsy is still incomplete so we still do not know the cause of death and we don't know when his body is going to be released so we can lay him to rest. What happened to Roger was not an isolated case. People have been suffering at the hands of the police for many years. The image of Roger on a life support system may be an extreme example but for him it is a reality.

This injustice must stop. We are tired of being persecuted and are angry about the way black men, in particular, have been treated. We fear for our fathers, our brothers, our sons and want things to change. We do not want other families to experience the distress and pain that we have suffered. What we are asking for and what we demand is justice for Roger.

The system still fails us. There are many examples of that but, despite everything, we will fight on.

We demand an open inquiry. The Police Complaints Authority are supervising an investigation which is being carried out by Essex Police - a neighbouring force - and we are unhappy about the fact that the police are investigation themselves.

The information collected in the inquiry is closed to us where key evidence is concerned and we are not entitled to see the PCA report. It is the property of the Met, so as the family we may never be told of the full facts surrounding his death. This is a travesty and a disgrace.

We do not want another cover up. We demand that police officers be suspended. This has always been our demand. We feel it is outrageous that they have not been suspended. In other professions if there is even the slightest possibility that staff actions may have resulted in serious injuries, then they are suspended.