from Black Mental Health UK
16th December 2009

The jury at the inquest into the tragic death while in police custody of service user Michael Lloyd Powell (known as Mikey) today returned a damning verdict  and found that the way that he was restrained resulted in his death from positional asphyxia.

We have worked for six years to reach this point – the jury have found that the position the police put Mikey in killed him .   Hopefully this will give some encouragement to other families who have lost someone in custody,’ Mikey’s sister Sieta Lambrias said.

This landmark case has gripped the attention of with large sections of the community who are increasingly concerned about how police officers treat vulnerable black service users when they are taken into custody.

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all credits: Birmingham Mail
16th December 2009

An inquest jury into death of a Birmingham dad who died in police custody was today considering its verdict. The jury retired yesterday after hearing almost six weeks of evidence in the case of Michael Powell.

The 38-year-old died after collapsing in a police cell in September 2003. Police were called to the home of his mother in Lozells, after reports that he was causing a disturbance.

The inquest has heard how the father-of-three was hit by a police car and sprayed with CS gas spray before being restrained and put into a police van.

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The Mikey Powell Inquest is reaching it’s end

The inquest into the death of Mikey, having run for close to six weeks, will be drawing to a close shortly.

The verdict of the jury was expected by 16th December however there has been heated debate on the directions given by the coroner, and the jury are still considering their verdict at the time of writing (18th December 2009).

A joint Press Release with the charity INQUEST will be released shortly after the jury’s verdict is announced.

The family would like to take this opportunity to thank the organisations, families and friends that have attended the inquest and supported them throughout this traumatic and difficult period.

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