The Gooner Forum

Henry Hicks was an 18 year old boy from Islington that loved Arsenal Football Club.
He died after an unmarked Police car chased him off the road and he crashed .
Islington Police have not given a detailed explanation of how he died however 4 Officers have been cited with gross misconduct charges but still the family wait for an Official explanation .
A March will take place after the Liverpool match from 169 Liverpool Road @ 2.30 to tolpuddle st police station it will be a peaceful one to demand Justice for Henry .
You may read more about it here.
Thank you for reading !
http://www.henryhicksfoundation.org/

Firstly, all sympathy and respect to him and his Family and friends.
If what you said is correct, then the lad,(and his Family), deserves, and is owed justice. I go back as far as Blair Peach, when he got beaten and left to die by,(I use the word "allegedly" by the S.P.G.),as I can't remember how his case was resolved.
It is also fitting that the march ends in Tolpuddle Street, as it echoes the injustices served upon the Tolpuddle Martyrs!!!

Did anyone hear the chant at 3.18 yesterday? I didn't

Can I ask was he being chased by the Police or being followed?

That's a good question. Most reports do seem to suggest he was being chased.

It's always a tragedy when a life ends at such a young age but it does raise the question.....

If he was being chased by police why didn't he just stop? That is the sensible thing to do!

I don't know much about the case so I cannot comment really but it always seems a good idea to stop when being blue lighted by the police. To fail to do so is not only foolish but is also an offence. Whilst it could well be that there is some blame to be laid at the police's door (given that some are being reprimanded), nobody would be in trouble and nobody would have died if he'd just stopped!

SPUDMASHER wrote:That's a good question. Most reports do seem to suggest he was being chased.

It's always a tragedy when a life ends at such a young age but it does raise the question.....

If he was being chased by police why didn't he just stop? That is the sensible thing to do!

I don't know much about the case so I cannot comment really but it always seems a good idea to stop when being blue lighted by the police. To fail to do so is not only foolish but is also an offence. Whilst it could well be that there is some blame to be laid at the police's door (given that some are being reprimanded), nobody would be in trouble and nobody would have died if he'd just stopped!

That’s not always strictly true though, Spuddy.

Jean Charles De Menezes had his head practically blown off by firearms officers for doing the square root of fuck all, and was then besmirched after the fact: he was running, he jumped a barrier, he failed to stop when asked, all of which was bollocks.

A typical Police response from former PC Spudmasher, you really should declare an interest Spuds .
I've tried not to get into a debate here as it wont help just gave the information and then it's up to the individual .
A young boy who lived locally and supported the Arsenal is dead !
For clarity sakes ,here is NO evidence to suggest the Police had a blue light on however the Police have dropped that one out to the media in the same unattributable way that they told everyone that Jean Charles Menezes jumped the barrier and ran away from police when in fact he used his oyster card and stopped to pick up a paper on the way to the train .
Similarly CCTV that vanished in the Menezes case is also not present here however it is thought that 1 or both of the 2 unmarked cars chasing Henry may have indeed had CCTV installed in the car .No video has been released which means that either there wasn't any, or it doesn't show what the Police want it to show ,I certainly don't know .
The Police haven't given an explanation of what happened and refuse to engage with the family in any meaningful way, however some are undertaking a covert smear campaign, and have stepped up the harassment of the family and it's supporters.
The new Chf Sup Catherine Roper, a former Islington Det Chf Insp who was recently appointed to the Job had said she would attend the March however in a rapid volte face she Vanished and the Police locked themselves in Tolpuddle st and refused to come out until the crowd dispersed .
They have suspended the 4 Officers who all have legal representation ,however, they have had a very long time to organise a robust defense to any charge.
Witnesses will be hard to find because Wheelright st has houses only on 1 side because it has Pentonville on the other and where he crashed is at the top by roman way where there's 1 house !
We may never know what really happened,the only hard fact is that a young 18 year old man from Islington was killed after contact with the Police.
The family deserve the truth but whether they will get it or not is a different matter, I hope they do !

Sometimes putting people on ignore is a real bonus!

officepest wrote:

SPUDMASHER wrote:That's a good question. Most reports do seem to suggest he was being chased.

It's always a tragedy when a life ends at such a young age but it does raise the question.....

If he was being chased by police why didn't he just stop? That is the sensible thing to do!

I don't know much about the case so I cannot comment really but it always seems a good idea to stop when being blue lighted by the police. To fail to do so is not only foolish but is also an offence. Whilst it could well be that there is some blame to be laid at the police's door (given that some are being reprimanded), nobody would be in trouble and nobody would have died if he'd just stopped!

That’s not always strictly true though, Spuddy.

Jean Charles De Menezes had his head practically blown off by firearms officers for doing the square root of fuck all, and was then besmirched after the fact: he was running, he jumped a barrier, he failed to stop when asked, all of which was bollocks.

True, not always foolproof but I think you'd agree that on the whole it massively improves your chance of staying out of trouble and ultimately surviving. There'll always be instances when things go wrong for one reason or another. That's because there are humans involved and you'll never eliminate human error whether it be judgement or actions.
As I said in my first post I don't know much about the case so cannot comment on details. As I understand it nobody seems to know much except the police that were there at the time. That no doubt will make them guilty of a conspiracy etc. etc. as it always does because they'll never be given the presumption of innocence that the public demand for themselves.

We dont know if they had a blue light on , Islington is a sometimes violent and place you can imagine a lad might be scared when chased by 2 unmarked cars .
I wasn't there , so I dont know ,I haven't taken any sides nor do I want to get into a slagfest but the Police should be as accountable for their actions as the Public are .

Difficult to comment on this specific case given the lack of evidence but generally I think people are too quick to jump to sinister conclusions about the police and agree with Spuddy that they don't always enjoy the same presumption of innocence that people demand from them.

The presumption of innocence has been systematically eroded over the last 15 years or so but lets stick to this case.
If you or I were involved in a car accident where someone lost their lives after we chased someone and it resulted in their death
then we would be arrested ,questioned and then charged if found there was a case to answer.
I stupidly expect the Police to be answerable in the same manner.
Of course we are not privvy to what Investigation the Police may or may not have done at the outset or subsequently Internally and I have no clue what the police procedure is when someone dies after contact with Officers but in this case the family havent been told anything at all by the Police.
The case may well boil down to whether the blue light was on or off only the 4 Policemen know the answer to that.
The family want an answer , I support that ,nothing more nothing less !