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Four Metropolitan Police (MPS) constables based at Islington Police Station will face gross misconduct hearings in relation to the pursuit of Henry Hicks immediately prior to his death in December 2014.

Henry Hicks, 18, and from Islington in north London, died on Dec 19 2014 following a pursuit by two unmarked police vehicles. He lost control of his moped and crashed into two stationary vehicles belonging to members of the public.

At a HM Coroner’s inquest yesterday in London, a jury determined that Henry was being pursued by the police at the time of the collision.

In the investigator’s opinion, the officers conducted a pursuit without authorisation from a senior officer in the control room. MPS policy is that pursuits have to be immediately notified to the control room and authorised in all but exceptional circumstances. It is the opinion of the investigator that the officers also did not consider the risks to Henry of the pursuit or make any consideration as to whether he may have been a juvenile.

The MPS agreed with the investigator’s findings for the two drivers but disagreed with the findings for the two radio operators (passengers). The IPCC has therefore used its powers to direct the MPS to also hold misconduct hearings for the two radio operators.

A second IPCC investigation examined complaints made by Henry’s family about the number of occasions he was subjected to stop and search, between October 2011 and when he died; and the extent they were appropriate and in line with relevant local, MPS and national police policies.

The investigation identified inconsistencies with the records obtained from the MPS and those obtained from Henry’s family as many of the stops on Henry did not appear to have been recorded properly. Based on an analysis of available information, the investigationestablished that Henry was subjected to a stop and search 71 times in this period as well as 18 stop and accounts. It is possible that at least a further 19 stop and searches were conducted and numerous stop and accounts but due to the condition of the data entries the IPCC investigator was not able to fully establish the numbers.

Henry was arrested seven times during the same period.

The IPCC investigator identified a breach in policy by MPS officers in failing to record stop and searches on at least nineteen occasions and failing to record stop and account on at least three occasions. The investigator has made provisional recommendations which are currently being considered by the Commissioner who has indicated that she will be making formal recommendations to the MPS following the investigation.

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.

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

“We were provided with information from a number of sources about officers acting unprofessionally in their interactions with Henry and while the investigator did not find sufficient corroborative evidence to meet the threshold of proof, serious questions remain unanswered about these interactions with a young man who was between the ages of fourteen to seventeen for most of the period examined.

“Although our second investigation found no case to answer for individual officers, I will be making formal recommendations to the MPS.

“Today our thoughts are with Henry’s family and friends for what has been a tremendously difficult time.”

The two investigation reports will be published following the misconduct hearings for the officers concerned which will be arranged by the MPS.