Dramatic new evidence that teenager Henry Hicks had been selling skunk-cannabis before crashing his moped during a police road pursuit was heard at a coroner’s inquest today (Wednesday).

The 18-year-old, from Angel, died after crashing into cars belonging to members of the public in Wheelwright Street, next to Pentonville Prison, on December 19, 2014, following a chase by two unmarked police cars.

Today the inquest into Henry’s death heard that seven small bags of skunk and £230 in cash were recovered from his clothing by a detective after the crash, and that he was riding a stolen moped, though it was registered in his name.

However, St Pancras 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.”

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 severely injured 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.

Mr 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, Mr Marwaha admitted Henry had no previous criminal convictions, though he had previously been given a caution for possessing a small amount of cannabis and was on bail for affray at the time of his death.

An 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.

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 Officer A, B, C and D and are expected to give evidence next week.

The inquest continues and has been scheduled for three weeks.

• Keywords
  POLICE OFFICERS, ROAD ACCIDENTS, MOTOR-SCOOTERS, CORONERS COURTS
• Geographical keyword
  WHEELWRIGHT STREET
• Persons keyword
  Henry Hicks