Fresh inquest into the 1997 Metropolitan police pursuit related death of Onese Power opens Monday

22 February 2019

Before HM Senior Coroner Mary Hassell
St Pancras Coroner’s Court
Camley Street, London N1C 4PP

Opens 10am, 25 February 2019
Expected to last for 2 weeks

Onese Power suffered fatal injuries during a dangerous high-speed Metropolitan police pursuit in Kentish Town, London on 17 August 1997.  

In December 2017, the original inquest conclusion of February 1998 was quashed by the high court and a fresh inquest ordered, which will open on Monday, 25 February 2019, with the family’s legal representatives being publicly funded.

Without legal funding at the original inquest, Onese’s widow, Ann Power, represented the family on her own. In contrast, an experienced barrister acted for the police at public expense.

Onese was a 51 year old father of three, who lived and worked in Shepherds Bush, London. He was a loving, protective and supportive family man, who was well known and well liked in the neighbourhood. His family hope that this new inquest will provide an opportunity denied to them in 1998: a full and open inquiry into all of the circumstances of Onese’s premature death.

Selen Cavcav, Senior Caseworker, working with the family said: “It is totally unacceptable that Onese’s family have been forced to battle for decades simply to get the answers they deserve. Their struggle highlights the importance of fair legal funding for families following state related deaths.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information, interview requests and to note your interest, please contact Lucy McKay on 020 7263 1111 or email,  

INQUEST has been working with the family of Onese Power since 2014. The family are represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members, Daniel Machover of Hickman and Rose solicitors and Sean Horstead of Garden Court Chambers (and at the earlier High Court stage also by Leslie Thomas QC of Garden Court Chambers).

The other interested persons represented at the inquest are the Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis, and former police officer Stephen Collier who was the driver of the police car immediately pursuing Onese, and police officer Steven Heatley who was the passenger in the police car.

For further information see: