Empress State Building
17 – 20 October 2017 

Despite contrasting with findings from an inquest, a Metropolitan Police misconduct hearing panel has concluded that gross misconduct charges against four officers relating to the death of Henry Hicks in 2014 are ‘not proven’. The charges in question related to whether the officers, whose identities were protected, were in pursuit of Henry without authority and contrary to policy.

The inquest jury returned in June 2016 found that police were in pursuit of Henry as defined by the Metropolitan Service 'standard operating procedure'. This kind of pursuit would require permission from central command, which the officers did not seek. However the misconduct hearing found that the four officers were not in pursuit and subsequently charges were ‘not proven’. The accused officers giving evidence said that discrepancies between radio recordings prior to, and following the fatal collision, as well as initial statements, were due to shock.

Henry, aged 18 at the time of his death, suffered fatal head injuries in a collision on 19 December 2014. During the inquest, evidence was heard that Henry was subjected to stop-and-search by police a total of 89 times between the ages of 14 and 17, but was never once charged.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) annual report on deaths following police contact for 2016/17 recorded a significant rise in road traffic fatalities involving police, and more than double the number of deaths following police pursuit than the year before (28).

A number of recent misconduct hearing conclusions have had similar results, as listed in notes to editor.

Claudia Hicks, sister of Henry said:
“We are beyond disappointed by this ruling. We don’t understand how the panel can have reached a different conclusion to that of the inquest jury. We won’t stop fighting for accountability for Henry’s death. We miss him every day.”

Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST said:
“Today’s decision again raises serious questions about the integrity of police misconduct hearings and will further undermine confidence in the mechanism for holding the police to account.

It is difficult to reconcile this outcome, reached after two days evidence of a police disciplinary panel, with the conclusions of an inquest jury after two weeks of evidence which came to the opposite conclusion. Policies and procedures on police pursuits exist to safeguard lives, particularly important with the year on year rise in police pursuit and road traffic fatalities."

NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, please contact Lucy McKay on 020 7263 1111 or [email protected]

INQUEST has been working with the family of Henry Hicks since before the inquest. The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Michael Oswald of Bhatt Murphy Solicitors and Jesse Nichols of Doughty Street Chambers.

• The hearing was chaired by Ms Eileen Herlihy on “PCs A B C and D”, based at Islington Borough of the Metropolitan Police Force who were granted anonymity.

• In 2016-17 the IPCC recorded 32 road traffic fatalities involving police, an increase of 11 on last year, the highest figure recorded in the last eight years. 28 of the deaths were from police pursuit-related incidents, more than double the figure for last year (13). See the IPCC annual report on deaths during or following police contact in 2016/17 for more information.

• Our response to the latest IPCC report can be found here. We commented, “…a significant and concerning rise in the number of police pursuit related road traffic accidents. IPCC suggest that most these deaths have occurred despite police policy being followed, begging the question of how effective and safe these policies are.”

• There have been a number of recent misconduct hearings either clearing police or charging them with misconduct, but with few repercussions:
- Officers involved in the death of James Herbert found not guilty of misconduct.
- Officers involved in the death of Olaseni Lewis cleared of misconduct.
- Officers involved in the phdeath of Adrian Macdonald found guilty of lesser charge of misconduct(not gross) for failing in their duty of care.
- Officers found guilty of misconduct following death of David Fournier D'Albe, with no further action. 

Recent court cases:
- Officers found not guilty of perjury at criminal trial in relation to the death of Kingsley Burrell.
- Officers found not guilty of manslaughter following the death of Thomas Orchard.

• The charges in full, as declared on the hearing notice, were as follows:

- (e) The conduct that is the subject matter of the case and how that conduct is alleged to amount to misconduct or gross misconduct as the case may be, as set out in the notice given in accordance with Regulation 21(1) or 43(1)

- It is alleged that PC A was engaged in a pursuit of Henry Hicks in the area of Caledonian Road, London without authority and contrary to policy. This conduct is alleged to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of ‘Orders and Instructions’.

- It is alleged that PC B, while in a vehicle driven by PC A, engaged in a pursuit of Henry Hicks in the area of Caledonian Road, London without authority and contrary to policy. This conduct is alleged to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of ‘Orders and Instructions’.

- It is alleged that PC C was engaged in a pursuit of Henry Hicks in the area of Caledonian Road, London without authority and contrary to policy. This conduct is alleged to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of ‘Orders and Instructions’

- It is alleged that PC D, while in a vehicle driven by PC C, engaged in a pursuit of Henry Hicks in the area of Caledonian Road, London without authority and contrary to policy. This conduct is alleged to have breached the Standards of Professional Behaviour in respect of ‘Orders and Instructions’.”