from Birmingham Mail
15th December 2009

The family of a man who died in police custody wept tears of joy as they claimed that an inquest had given them “truth and justice”. The jury at the hearing found that Michael Powell died from positional asphyxia caused by lying on his front in the back of a police van.

The jury also recorded that Mr Powell, aged 38, became more vulnerable to death for one or more possible reasons. They included being hit by a moving police car, being sprayed with CS gas, being struck by a baton or being restrained on the ground while suffering a psychosis and extreme exertion.

It took the ten-man jury three days to reach an eight-to-two majority verdict. They could not agree on whether the police restraint was “reasonable in the circumstances”.

The father-of-three died on September 7, 2003, at the age of 38.

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from Birmingham Mail
1st December 2009

A police officer and former paramedic told an inquest jury he believed a man who died in police custody should have been taken to hospital rather than a police station.

Sergeant Christopher Wilson said a cut he noticed on victim Michael Powell’s right wrist and a suggestion that his drink had been spiked prompted him to ask an inspector whether the father-of-three should be taken to the station or to hospital. He said as medical staff had been pre-warned of Mr Powell’s arrival at the station he felt reassured he would receive timely treatment.

Mr Powell, aged 38, died in September 2003 minutes after arriving at Thornhill Road police station.

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