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Police officers who chased Henry Hicks will face misconduct hearings as Angel teenager’s family vow to ‘fight on to get justice’ Four police officers who chased Angel teenager Henry Hicks at speed in unmarked cars before he fatally crashed his moped face gross misconduct hearings after a coroner’s inquest ruled that the 18-year-old was killed during a police pursuit.

Henry died after losing control of a Vespa moped and crashing into cars in Wheelwright Street, next to Pentonville Prison, on December 19, 2014.

The 12-day inquest into his death, which has been hugely controversial in Islington, ended with a vindication for the Hicks family following an 18-month campaign to hold the officers to account over Henry’s death.

Henry’s sister Claudia, 24, who has spearheaded Justice for Henry Hicks campaign, said: “We are pleased with the outcome. We only wanted the truth, and that’s what we got. Today confirms what we always believed had happened on that night.”

The case ultimately hinged on one fundamental question: whether the events leading up to the crash constituted a police pursuit as defined by the Met Police.

The court heard that before he crashed Henry was being followed along Caledonian Road by two unmarked police cars which had their sirens on and blue lights flashing.


Floral tributes to Henry at the scene of the crash in Wheelwright Street

In their evidence, the two officers closest behind the teenager, known to the inquest only as officers A and B, told the jury they followed Henry because the moped he was riding had aroused their suspicion and they suspected him of drug dealing. They said the moped rider was “at no point aware” of their presence and that therefore the events of that night “technically” did not constitute a pursuit.

However, after five hours of deliberation the jury on Tuesday rejected their version of events, stating in a narrative conclusion: “Henry Hicks died as a result of a road traffic collision in Wheelwright Street. Immediately prior to the collision Henry was aware that plain-clothes police officers in unmarked vehicles were driving at whatever distance behind him and wanting him to stop.

“This was a police pursuit as defined by the Metropolitan Police standard operating procedure.”

The four Islington-based constables will now face gross misconduct hearings after the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which investigated the incident, said the pursuit was not authorised and the officers failed to consider its risks.

The Met’s policy is that pursuits have to be immediately notified to the control room and authorised in all but exceptional circumstances. IPCC investigators found that the officers failed “to consider the risks to Henry of the pursuit or make any consideration as to whether he may have been a juvenile”.

Speaking after the hearing, Henry’s mother Dionne said: “You could see from the CCTV it was blatantly obvious that they were pursuing him.”

Asked whether the family had achieved a measure of justice, Claudia added: “Definitely. We are getting there.”

On the night of the fatal crash, the teenager was spotted by officers travelling in unmarked Ford and Hyundai cars in Bemerton Street shortly before 8pm. The cars followed him 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. Henry sped off as soon as he saw the two police cars.

Jurors were shown CCTV footage of the teenager riding up Caledonian Road at speed, with the police cars with sirens and blue lights on following a short distance behind. The teenager reached a top speed of 46mph, the Hyundai driven by officers A and B recording a fastest speed of 54mph.

In Wheelwright Street Henry started losing control of the scooter, hit the back wheel of a stationary taxi and crashed into an oncoming car while driving at a speed of 53mph.

PC Paul Summerton, who investigated the crash, told the inquest he believed that after Henry lost control of the scooter, the rear of his vehicle struck the teenager on the head, fracturing the chin bob of his helmet. A postmortem examination later gave a fatal head injury as the cause of death.

The police Hyundai was 10 seconds behind Henry, reaching a top speed of 45mph in Wheelwright Street. The speed limit in the road is 20mph.

The teenager was taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington but doctors were unable to save his life. He was pronounced dead at 9.15pm.

The St Pancras jury found that other factors contributed to Henry’s death, including his attempts to avoid police, his speed and swerving prior to the collision and the fact he was driving a powerful 300cc moped. Additional factors were a speed hump in Wheelwright Street, the fact that the minicab was stationary and that two out of three of its backlights were not working.

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

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.

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

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

Claudia added: “We welcome the conclusion and thank the coroner and jury for their careful consideration of the evidence. Henry was 18 when he died and, as the police themselves said in the course of this inquest, he was a nice boy, polite, well brought up and from a good family. We are completely heartbroken and we will always miss Henry.

“Since Henry died we have been incredibly touched by the community reaction, and the number of people who have come up to us to tell us how special Henry was to them, and how he had affected their lives.”

It was revealed at the start of the inquest that the Crown Prosecution Service will not bring criminal charges against the officers, after it was passed the findings of an investigation by the IPCC.

But Claudia said that the family would continue to “fight for justice”, adding: “We are not going to stop until we are satisfied with the outcome. We want Henry to get justice. We will carry on doing whatever we have to do.”

Asked what legal route this would involve, Claudia said her family were “considering all options”.

Speaking in response to the findings of the jury, Chief Superintendent Catherine Roper, the Borough Commander for Islington, said: “Today our thoughts and sympathy are with Henry’s family, having lost a son. This can only have been a distressing and stressful time for them, and his friends.”

She added: “Our pursuit policy, which is based on national guidance, is kept under constant review. In the light of today’s narrative delivered by the jury and any recommendations made by the coroner in her report, and the IPCC, we will once again review that policy. The Met is committed to learning and ensuring that we do all we can to make sure our officers can do their very difficult jobs as safely as possible for the good of London.

“A number of police officers, including the officers who provided emergency first aid to Henry, have given their witness testimony. This has been a very difficult process for them, and the Met continues to provide them with all the support we can.

“I know that Henry’s death has prompted serious local community concerns. I will keep working hard with my local community to ensure we do all we can to address them.”

Throughout the inquest the officers have been known only as officers A, B, C and D. It could take months for the misconduct proceedings against the four officers to get under way. A spokeswoman for the Met said: “Officers face a misconduct board when they are alleged to have breached standards of professional conduct that could amount to gross misconduct.” Gross misconduct findings can lead to dismissals.

Coroner Mary Hassell said she will be writing a Prevention of Future Deaths report, indicating she believes that action should be taken by the Met to prevent a similar occurrence in future.

Watchdog warns of ‘targeting’ concerns
POLICE stopped Henry Hicks at least 89 times in the three years leading up to his death, risking a perception that officers were “targeting” him, a police watchdog has said.

The Independent Police Complains Commission (IPCC) investigated whether the stops were appropriate and in line with police guidelines following a complaint by Henry’s family. The watchdog established Henry was stopped and searched 71 times in this period and asked to account for his actions 18 times.

The IPCC said it is possible that at least a further 19 stop-and-searches were conducted but that these were not properly recorded.

Henry, who according to evidence heard at the inquest into his death had been selling skunk cannabis before the fatal crash on December 19, 2014, was arrested seven times during that three-year period.

IPCC Commissioner Jennifer Izekor said: “Of significant concern was the manner in which police used powers of stop-and-search and stop-and-account in relation to Henry.

“Despite being legally a child for the majority of this period little monitoring or review appears to have taken place by senior management within the borough command.

“I am very concerned about whether an appropriate balance was struck between using powers to detect crime and managing the risk of undermining relations. The police also appeared to have risked creating a perception of targeting an individual young person.”

Borough Commander Catherine Roper has said police will only search people on lawful grounds and that searches should be carried out in a “lawful, polite and professional” manner.