User talk:4WardEver

Mikey Powell Case Synopsis

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 whilst in Police custody.

Mikey was 38 years old and a father of three young children. He had never been in trouble with the authorities and was well known and respected within his community. He would, (although this was on extremely rare occasions), be prone to bouts of depression; and on the night in question one of these episodes occurred.

Mikey died on 7th September 2003, in police custody in [Handsworth], [Birmingham]. He had been arrested outside his mother's house in the Lozells area of the city.

This is what happened. Officers drove a police car at Mikey, hitting him, beat him with batons, CS gassed him, restrained him and, knowing he was injured, and drove him to a police station not a hospital. At the police station the officers simply did not call for an ambulance for over 4 minutes. Mikey was dead by the time it arrived. On any body’s version something went very seriously wrong.

Mikey’s death has had a profound effect on his extended family, particularly his immediate family members, his children and partner. The family of Mikey Powell is committed to ensuring that answers are found to the many questions surrounding his death. Whether or not the actions of attending officers were directly attributable to his lack of care, in our view, still remains to be seen.

The whole community was outraged and angry that this could happen so suddenly to a law abiding citizen. This was reflected in a packed public meeting held in September 2003, and a march to [Thornhill Road police station] in November 2003. Over 500 people attended the protest and hundreds more lined the route.

Mikey's family and friends established a campaign in his name to express concern with the [high rate of custody deaths in the United Kingdom]. The Mikey Powell Campaign for Justice shows solidarity with other families that have lost loved ones within [police], [penal] and [mental health] institutions across the country. We have vowed to lend our support to local, regional and national campaigns for justice and reform.

The Powell family demands that openness; transparency and Police cooperation should be at the very heart of [investigations into deaths in custody], and the Government must act on its own principles of ‘[equality for all]’ in ensuring that this is the case. The family of Mikey Powell, like families before us, never dreamt such tragedy could come so suddenly.

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Welcome to Wikipedia, and thank you for your contributions. One of the core policies of Wikipedia is that articles should always be written from a neutral point of view. Please always observe our core policies. (I have full respect for the friends and family of Mikey Powell, but the material you posted to his article is not suitable for Wikipedia, as it's written from a clearly non-neutral approach. I hope you understand, and will continue to edit Wikipedia. Thanks for reading.) Terraxos 01:36, 25 June 2007 (UTC)