A teenager who died when his moped crashed was trying to get away from police pursuing him in unmarked cars, an inquest jury has concluded in a narrative verdict that rejected the police version of events.
Henry Hicks, 18, a carpenter from Islington, died on 19 December 2014 when he lost control of his vehicle in Wheelwright Street, north London, following a high-speed chase.
Four police officers will now face misconduct charges, the Independent Police Complaints Commission said. The officers had insisted Hicks was not aware he was being followed. The IPCC, which carried out two investigations into the case, also expressed “significant concern” over the way police in Islington treated Hicks in the years before his death. Between the ages of 14 and 17, he was subjected to stop-and-search a total of 89 times, but never charged with any criminal offence.
The Metropolitan police service (MPS) said on Tuesday it would review its pursuit policy in the light of the jury’s findings.
A jury at St Pancras coroner’s court heard that officers in two unmarked cars began to follow Hicks after spotting what they suspected was drug dealing.
They had insisted that despite the two cars chasing his moped through traffic with their sirens and blue lights flashing, at speeds of up to 50mph, he had not been aware they were following him. As a result, they said, the chase did not meet formal police guidelines for a pursuit that would have required them to seek authorisation to continue.
There were cries of “yes” at the inquest as the verdict was read out. At one point, Claudia Hicks, 23, Henry’s sister, who led a high-profile campaign for justice for her brother, was led out of the court in tears.
The senior coroner for inner London, Mary Hassell, said the jury, which took a day to make its decision, had reached a narrative verdict. It ruled: “Henry David Hicks died as a result of a road collision on Wheelwright Street. Immediately prior to this collision Henry David Hicks was aware that plain clothes police officers were in unmarked vehicles driving at whatever distance behind him and wanting him to stop. This was a police pursuit, as defined by the Metropolitan police service standard operating procedures.”
Outside the court after the verdict, Claudia Hicks, flanked by her parents, David, 54, and Dione, 52, welcomed the verdict as the truth they had been waiting for. She described her brother as an amazing person and a gentleman. She told the inquest that being without him was like “living in a world without colour”.
She said: “We’re pleased with the outcome. We only ever wanted the truth and we got the truth.”
Her mother, Dione, said: “You could see it by the CCTV. It is blatantly obvious there was pursuit.”
Claudia said: “All of the officers stood up in the inquest and said my brother was a nice friendly boy and they had never known him to commit crime. That says it all really.”
In a statement, she said: “We are completely heartbroken and miss him every day. We will always miss him. Today confirms what we always believed happened on that night.”
The family will consider their next legal steps.
Deborah Coles of Inquest said: “This inquest jury have unanimously rejected the police version of events. Over a year after his death, it has taken an inquest to expose the truth about how an 18-year-old came to die as a result of a dangerous police pursuit.”
Hicks’ attempts to avoid police by swerving at speed, as well as the powerful 300cc moped he rode, were all factors contributing to the collision, the jury said. A speed hump and minicab at Wheelwright Street were also said to be contributing factors.
On the night he died, Hicks was found to have been carrying seven bags of skunk cannabis worth £70-£140, £230 in cash and three mobile phones, leading an officer to tell the inquest the teenager “was, in essence, a drug dealer”. He had not, however, been regarded as a major offender, another local officer said.
On Tuesday, the IPCC said its investigators found the officers conducted a pursuit without authorisation from a senior officer in the control room, they did not consider the risks to Hicks of pursuing him, nor did they consider he may have been a juvenile. It also found “inconsistencies” in police records of stop-and-searches carried on him. Investigators identified a breach of MPS policy by officers to record stop and search on 22 occasions.
IPCC commissioner, Jennifer Izekor, said: “Our investigation has found that four officers may have acted improperly in their pursuit of Henry prior to his death and we have ensured that all four will face a misconduct hearing. Of significant concern to the IPCC in the second investigation, as it was to Henry’s family, was the manner in which police in Islington used their powers of stop-and-search and stop-and-account in relation to Henry over a four-year period.
“Despite being legally a child for the majority of this period, and the number of times he was stopped, little monitoring or review appears to have taken place by senior management within the borough command. Although our second investigation found no case to answer for individual officers, I will be making formal recommendations to the MPS.”
Following the inquest, Ch Supt Catherine Roper, the borough commander for Islington, said in a statement: “Our pursuit policy, which is based on national guidance, is kept under constant review. In 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 police driver, a PC who can only be named as officer A, had said he had not been “in pursuit” of the rider. He previously told the jury: “In my heart I knew that he hadn’t seen me. He gave me absolutely no indication that he was aware of me.”
Hassell said she would send a prevention of death report “in light of the jury’s conclusion” so that lessons may be learned.
The inquest had been moved from St Pancras to the Royal Courts of Justice for four days to allow the officers to give evidence anonymously behind a curtain after they received death threats on social media.