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A CORONER has warned a jury that tragic teenager Henry Hicks is “not on trial” after it was told he may have been trying to avoid being stopped with cannabis when he crashed his moped during a police road chase.

The 18-year-old, who was from Angel, died after losing control of his Vespa scooter and hitting cars belonging to members of the public in Wheelwright Street, next to Pentonville Prison, on December 19, 2014.

The inquest into his death, which opened at St Pancras Coroner’s Court this week, heard he was being followed by two unmarked police cars.

In a statement read out by the coroner, Henry’s sister Claudia, 24, who has spearheaded the Justice for Henry Hicks campaign, said that life without Henry was like “living in a world without colour”.

The court heard that seven small bags of skunk and £230 in cash were recovered from Henry’s clothing by a detective after the crash and that the moped he was riding had been stolen seven months earlier, although it was registered in his name.

But coroner Mary Hassell warned the jury: “Henry is not on trial here. And the reason for bringing this out is for the sake of completeness and may assist with the circumstances, but it’s not to try Henry after his death, that’s not why we are here.”

On the night of the fatal crash, the teenager was spotted by officers, who were travelling in unmarked Ford and Hyundai cars, in Bemerton Street shortly before 8pm. The cars followed him on his moped into Copenhagen Street and York Way, temporarily losing sight of him before spotting the teenager again in Caledonian Road, where he was standing with a group of people, the court heard.

PC Paul Summerton, who investigated the collision, told the inquest that, upon seeing the two unmarked cars, Henry sped off northwards on Caledonian Road, with the police cars, who switched on their sirens and blue lights, in pursuit.

Neil Saunders, representing the four officers who followed Henry, asked PC Summerton: “Did you know that the bike was stolen? Did you know that Henry had drugs on him? Are those not reasons he may have been speeding?”

The officer replied: “It’s my opinion that he did not want to be stopped and spoken to by the police officers.”

Henry turned right into Wheelwright Street and sped up the road before he started losing control of the scooter near the junction with Roman Way, the court heard. He hit the back wheel of a stationary taxi and crashed into an oncoming car while driving at a speed of 53mph. The Hyundai arrived at the scene 10 seconds later, PC Summerton said.

Minicab driver Janaka Jayasinghe, who was about to turn into Roman Way at the time of the crash, told the inquest he had picked up two women on their way to a “girls’ night out” when Henry’s moped hit the rear wheel of his car.

“My vehicle was stationary because there was another car coming from Roman Way,” he said. “Then I hear ‘bang’. I didn’t feel it but it was against the rear wheel on the driver’s side.

“The moped was there [alongside the car] but it was hard to say whether he [Henry] was still on the moped. It was like he was thrown off. The moped was skidding to the side of the road.

“I came out of the car and tried to help him. I saw he had his helmet so I was trying to take the helmet off, but I saw blood coming out of his nose and I didn’t touch his helmet. I had never experienced this in my life and I was very upset.”

An unmarked police car, which had flashing blue lights in its grille and sirens on, arrived at the scene between 12 and 15 seconds later, the cab driver told the jury.

Linda Marslin, a passenger in the cab, told the jury that two plain-clothed police officers arrived “out of nowhere” between five and 10 seconds later. She said they took Henry’s helmet off, turned him on his back and started trying to resuscitate the teenager.

“Two officers came up from behind and one crouched down,” she said. “Only after they appeared I was aware of the blue lights [on the unmarked police car].

“The first one went down to look at him, and went to get a first-aid kit, I don’t actually remember seeing them straightening him up. I remember seeing him on his back with the helmet off and I remember seeing them doing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth.”

Anna Thomas, a friend of Ms Marslin who was also in the cab, told the jury: “The first thing I thought was that they [police officers] were following him [Henry].”

The teenager was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington but doctors were unable to save his life. He was pronounced dead at 9.15pm. A postmortem examination later gave a fatal head injury as cause of death.

Detective Sergeant Arvinder Marwaha, from the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, who was in charge of collecting evidence from the crash scene, told the inquest that an iPhone and two “cheap” Samsung phones had been found in Henry’s clothing left at the scene after the teenager was rushed to hospital.

Analysis of one of the Samsung phones later revealed that Henry had previously sent out almost 100 texts saying he had “banging lemon” available – a reference to skunk, the court heard.

DS Marwaha told the jury: “From Mr Rhodes’s [the detective who analysed the phones] analysis it was evident that Mr Hicks was a drug dealer.”

However, in cross-examination by Nicholas Rhodes QC, for the Hicks family, DS Marwaha told the court that Henry had no previous criminal convictions, although he had previously been given a youth caution for possessing a small amount of cannabis and was on bail for affray at the time of his death.

The moped belonging to Henry, which was registered in his name, had been stolen in Twickenham in April 2014, the court heard. DS Marwaha said the scooter’s chassis number had been grounded out and the ignition replaced. The vehicle, which was registered as a 125cc moped, was in fact a 300cc motorcycle and Henry was not legally permitted to ride it, the court heard.

Police did not know how long it had been in Henry’s possession, but DS Marwaha told the court that Islington Police had previously confiscated the moped and returned it to Henry.

The inquest was told that an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation found that Henry had been stopped by police at least 89 times – during which he was searched 71 times – in the three years leading up to his death, and that none of the stops had resulted in him being arrested.

No traces of drugs or alcohol were found in Henry’s blood or urine following the fatal crash, the inquest heard.

Asked by coroner Mary Hassell about what caused Henry’s crash, PC Summerton said: “His average speed was 53 miles per hour. There’s a sudden loss of control, whether it’s a firm brake application I don’t know, but some­thing changed. This skid was probably from the front brake – if this is applied with such force, control is lost very quickly.

“This might have been Mr Hicks reacting to the Saab turning left into Wheelwright Street in front of him. There’s a definite movement to the right prior to the collision, two seconds after the start of the brake application. It’s likely that the scooter was already out of control when the collision [with Mr Jayasinghe’s minicab] occurred.”

He added: “The mechanism of the collision is prone to speculation, but what is known is that the rear light of the scooter was working when he approached the scene, but afterwards it was broken because of the impact. Parts of the rear lighting were found amongst the blood, where Henry was found. At some point the rear of the scooter came into contact with Mr Hicks’s head. The chin bob [of the helmet] was fractured into two and the amount of blood in the helmet suggests it was quite a prominent strike on the helmet, and there was blood on the back of the scooter as well. At the time of the collision, Henry’s head was in the helmet. It took the impact from the scooter.”

Mr Rhodes, for the Hicks family, suggested Henry may have been distracted from what was happening in front of him because he was aware of the police cars behind him and looked over his shoulder prior to the crash.

He said: “There are a combination of factors here: the inexperience of the driver, the pursuit, if that is what it is, from behind, him [Henry] possibly looking over his shoulder and he’s beginning to brake, and then avoiding the car coming in front of him, the bike flips and hits him in the back of the head – is that an entirely possible scenario?” PC Summerton replied: “Yes.”

Mr Rhodes asked him: “If you were driving those police cars would you consider yourself to be in pursuit?”

Mr Summerton replied: “As a uniformed officer I would consider myself to be in pursuit.”

There was a small police presence outside the court as the inquest got underway on Monday – almost a year after it was initially scheduled.

Ms Hassell has ruled that the four officers involved in the pursuit are to be granted anonymity throughout the proceedings. They will only be known as Officers A, B, C and D and are expected to give evidence next week.

The inquest continues and has been scheduled for three weeks.

Sister tells inquest how family has ‘fallen apart’ since Henry’s death


IN a moving statement read by coroner Mary Hassell, Henry’s sister Claudia said her family had “fallen apart” since the teenager’s death.

“For us, living in a world without precious Henry is like living in a world without colour,” she said.

“He had such promise, now unfulfilled, and it feels like part of our purpose has gone with him. He was a gentleman, kind and caring, he made me laugh constantly and he would do everything for me. He was my best friend, he truly was.

“He always put others before himself. Since his death the stories that my family have been told about him fill my heart with pride and sadness. I could fill a stadium with the people whose lives were made better by my brother, he was so loved and so special.

“Henry had a very close relationship with my sister [Lydia] and my brother [William], he was my sister’s protector and guidance. I think when he died a large part of my brother died, too. As siblings we struggle to get on.

“I admire my mum and dad to get out of bed every day. Henry was their baby. My dad and Henry loved football and they would play for hours in the park and watch matches. They had a special bond but Henry was also a mummy’s boy. He would still give her kisses at 18, he would talk about girls and watch films with her.

“Henry was all of our favourite. He was family-oriented. He was our family’s glue, he kept us closely together and we’ve fallen apart without him, we feel completely broken. To say we miss him is an understatement. We love you, Henry.”