MP Diane Abbott under pressure for Twitter post about Mark Duggan ruling Labour MP publicly questioned the inquest ruling on Twitter Roting broke out when father-of-six Mr Duggan was shot dead in 2011 Labour MP Diane Abbott was today forced to defend her decision to publicly question the outcome of the Mark Duggan inquest. The former frontbencher said she was "baffled" and "startled" by the jury's ruling that Mr Duggan's killing was lawful. But she faced criticism for appearing to second guess the jury, which spent months examining the evidence of what happened in the moments before the police shot Mr Duggan dead in August 2011. Labour MP Diane Abbott has faced questions about why she said she was 'startled' and 'baffled' by the verdict in the inquest of Mark Duggan Now riot police have been put on standby in braced for fresh violence after the outcome of the inquest was announced yesterday. Hundreds of officers will be on alert for days despite the father-of-six's aunt Carole calling for 'no more demonstrations, no more violence'. But Miss Abbott, who was in Ed Miliband's frontbench team until last October, sparked controversy when she tweeted after the inquest: "If the Duggan jury believe that he did not have a gun in his hand when he was shot, how can they find it was a lawful killing?" She later said there would be "questions to be asked." Tory MP Henry Smith condemned the remarks: "We have a system of courts in this country. I don't think it's appropriate for people to second guess the verdict of a court that has followed due process. Given the events of the summer of 2011 community leaders and politicians need to be very careful of their language and not say things that inflame matters. Ms Abbott was repeatedly challenged on live today about whether an elected politician should appear to question the outcome of a British court. She accused Sky News presenter Kay Burley of not doing their viewers a "service" by focusing on her comments instead of the wider issues the case raised. Under pressure, she said: "I am not second guessing the jury today but I was taken aback but that's different from saying I am in some way trying to challenge the jury. But what I am challenging is you harping on about this issue rather than the issues facing the area of Tottenham. David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham said parts of the verdict were "perplexing and seemingly contradictory." But he added: "This was a ten-person jury that heard over three months of evidence, testimonies and expert accounts and took seven days to reach a decision. The issues have been thoroughly discussed and debated, and the jury's findings should be respected.