We are now able to report that our family has had the long awaited second inquest into Onese's death.  However, our feelings are that we are not happy with the way the inquest itself was conducted.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported us through this long arduous, emotional journey.  Myself, Glen, Neil and Scott would also like to give special thanks to our legal team, Leslie Thomas QC at the beginning, Daniel Machover - Solicitor, and Sean Horstead - Barrister who fearlessly represented our family at the Inquest. If it were not for their unwavering focus and dedication to our case we would never have got this far. We could not have had any one better fighting our corner.

Our eternal thanks,

The Power Family

Below is an extract from the charity INQUEST who has also supported us.

Before HM Senior Coroner Mary Hassell
St Pancras Coroner’s Court
25 February to 8 March 2019

Onese Power suffered fatal injuries during a dangerous high-speed Metropolitan Police pursuit in Kentish Town, London on 17 August 1997. An inquest in February 1998 returned an ‘open verdict’, leaving the family with more questions than answers.

Today, a fresh inquest has concluded that Onese Power died in a Road Traffic Collision, with the jury finding the duration and intensity of the pursuit contributed to his death. In a narrative conclusion they noted that, once engaged in the pursuit, the required ongoing assessment of risk by police officers was inadequate, given the escalation of risk, especially from Patshull Road onwards. They also noted that this escalation was inadequately assessed by the pursuing officers and was not communicated to central command, meaning the pursuit continued.

Although the jury concluded that there was ‘insufficient evidence to determine if close proximity between the police car and Mr Power’s bike in Royal College Street was a contributory factor to the collision’, the evidence heard at the inquest made it clear that if the police had terminated the pursuit before Royal College Street, as the jury’s conclusion indicates, this death would have been prevented.

The inquest heard evidence that Onese nearly came off his bike on several occasions when going over speed bumps on Pathsull Road prior to the collision. Additionally, the the police driver nearly knocked over a member of the public on a bicycle, but none of this was relayed back to the control room. In contrast to the original hearing, this inquest also heard evidence of Onese slowing down and a potential closing in of the pursuit car.

This jury was directed that Onese was likely to be doing a maximum speed of 59 miles per hour (mph) about 70 metres from the collision, braking very hard to slow down to probably 32mph. The 1998 jury was directed that at the same 70 metre point he was travelling at least 72mph, which gave a completely false picture of the final seconds of the pursuit.

In December 2017 the original inquest conclusion was  quashed by the high court and this fresh inquest was ordered. This came after the family spent over two decades battling for the truth, and with the assistance of a legal team funded by  crowdjustice donations. Without legal funding at the original inquest, Onese’s widow, Ann Power, represented the family on her own. In contrast, an experienced barrister acted for the police at public expense.

Deficiencies in the first inquest included the police’s refusal to disclose witness statements to Ann Power, denying her the opportunity to properly question officers on their identical accounts of the pursuit and collision. At the original inquest there were also failures to investigate marks on the police car which could have been caused by the impact with the motor bike, (in fact these marks were actually rubbed off by the investsigating officer). All these matters were fully explored at the second inquest.

Ann Power, the widow of Onese Power, said: As far as I’m concerned, my husband was chased to his death. In the words of the police driver,  - ‘The intention was for it to stop, however, that was gonna happen. I mean there was always the possibility that he would crash.’     -   Make of that what you will.

To read more vist here - www.inquest.org.uk/onese-power-inquest

We are able to report that yesterday 29th October 2018 we had our second Pre Inquest Review (PIR)  -  The INQUEST itself looks set for Monday 25th February 2019 10 am. at St Pancras Coroners Court. This hearing was to check the progress of locating previous witness, retrieving as much information previously unknown to us etc and the legal team acting on my behalf are leaving no stone unturned.  There are still quite a few things to be put in place and in order to check that we have everything, another Pre Inquest Review is scheduled for some time in January 2019.  We will update our page at that time.   This has been a long, emotional and gruelling journey but we are almost there and we are so glad we didn't give up (and believe me, with the obstacles continuously facing us and the length of time it has taken, we nearly did give up, BUT for the unwavering support and faith in our case we have ,received from our Solicitor Daniel Machover, Barrister Leslie Thomas QC and Barrister Sean Horstead, together with everyone who has supported our campaign to help make all this possible.   Best wishes to you all,  Ann, Glen Neil and Scott

Just to update this campaign.  Following a hard fought struggle, helped enormously by the support and generous donations from people who wish us well, not to mention the unwavering support from my solicitor and barrister, we had a court hearing on the 21st November 2017 in the High Court (Royal Courts of Justice, London) presided over by two High Court Judges, and on the 5th December 2017 were granted an Order for the original inquest to be quashed and a new inquest to be held; concluding that the significant deficiencies in the original process (1998) far outweigh the lapse of time.   This has been a profound victory for us as a family.  We are now in the process of working towards the new inquest and will update the page nearer the time.

Many thanks to you all and best wishes from,

Ann, Glen, Neil, Scott Power.

We have just been notified that a hearing, requesting a new inquest, has been fixed for the 28th June 2017.   We thank you all for your support which has helped us get this far.  We will keep you posted of events.

Best wishes to you all,

Ann and Family

The wheels of justice grind slowly but as an update we have been informed  that our solicitors should receive notification of a listing appointment via a letter from the court in about two weeks’ time and that the date of the Hearing will be fixed at the listing appointment.  Once we receive more information we will update you accordingly.  We would like to thank you all once again for your generous support which is helping us enormously to take things forward.

Ann Power

Today would have been Onese's 71st birthday and it is only fitting that we choose this day to say a very personal thank you to everyone who is supporting us in OUR time of need  -  20 years on, this is OUR time.  For the people who know us and the people who don't know us - A HEARTFELT THANK YOU.

Ann Power

THANK YOU AND THANK YOU ALL AGAIN

We are overwhelmed by the kind, sincere and generous support you are showing for our campaign and cannot thank you all enough.  This campaign is not just for us - we hope it will have meaning for everyone that without truth there is no justice.  

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU !!!! 

Just one full day in to the campaign and we are nearly halfway to reaching our first target of £3k 

This is so heartening for us.

Ann & Boys x

Thank-you all so much for your support and generosity so early into our campaign. It means so much!

Ann and boys x