Family Statements

Larry Fedja

Tippa Naphtali speaks – A Legacy for Mikey Powell

Mikey Powell remembrance bannersource: 4WardEverUK
published: 6 September 2018

Mikey’s cousin and prominent activist and social justice campaigner, Tippa Naphtali, has written the following moving article to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Mikey’s 2003 death in custody.

It was a lazy Sunday morning of 7th September 2003 when I received the devastating news from my sister that my cousin, Michael Lloyd Powell (known as Mikey), had died during a violent restraint by West Midlands police officers. This news was to mark the start of a 15-year journey that would have a significant impact on my life to this day.

Mikey was a hard-working and loving father of three boys, and was well-known and respected in the local community. He was experiencing a severe psychotic episode when police officers were called by my distraught aunt, Clarissa Powell.

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Featured 4WardEver UK

News updates put on hold!

News network iconssource: 4WardEverUK
published: 1 April 2017

From April 2017 there will be no more regular news items posted on the Mikey Powell Campaign website. There may however be the occasional updates related to Mikey’s case or any major national developments.

Tippa Naphtali (cousin of Mikey Powell and founder of 4WardEver UK) said;

“We have taken this decision due to workloads on a very small team of volunteers that manage our online resources. The 4WardEverUK website is the main source for news, resources and information in relation to deaths and abuses in detention, and we therefore need to focus our limited human resources into maintaining that commitment.”

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4WardEver UK

Mikey Powell Campaign marks a decade of struggle

Tippa Naphtali & Sieta Lambrias - Sept 2013 by Saqib Deshmukh
Picture by Saqib Deshmukh

originally by: Larry Fedja
published: 13 September 2013

The family of Mikey Powell have commemorated his life 10 years after his death at the hands of West Midlands Police by holding a vigil outside the police HQ in Birmingham, and then an inspirational after-event at The nearby African Caribbean Millennium Centre.

Mikey Powell 10th and final annual memorial
The image gallery from the Mikey Powell 10th Memorial Vigil at West Midlands Police HQ, Birmingham. Held on 7th September 2013.

The Friends of Mikey Powell Campaign for Justice was established by the family of Michael Lloyd Powell (known as Mikey), a cousin of the renowned poet and writer, Benjamin Zephaniah, following his death in Police custody. Mikey was 38 years old and a father of three young children.

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