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Inquest hears how arc of electricity hit Brighton man (From The Argus)
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Inquest hears how arc of electricity hit Brighton man
9:10am Sunday 17th June 2012 in News By Ben Parsons
The lights went out at a hostel where a 40-year-old man was living when a bolt of electricity struck him during a police stand-off.
The night receptionist at William Collier House in Brighton knew resident Richie Powell was threatening suicide on the roof of a nearby sub-station when he heard an explosion.
Darkness fell for a split-second.
The silence that followed was broken by Mr Powell’s screams of pain as flames engulfed him.
Mr Powell suffered 85% burns early on the morning of October 25 last year.
He was taken to a specialist burns unit in Essex where he died on November 9.
An inquest into his death has been told an arc of electrical current leapt from the sub-station to strike him as he stood on its roof negotiating with police.
He had earlier called them threatening suicide.
The jury at the inquest at Brighton was told that when police arrived at the hostel shortly after 4.20am on Tuesday October 25, they found Mr Powell had barricaded his door.
He is believed to have climbed out of the window, walked around the corner and got into the electricity sub-station. He was injured at 5.54am.
Night receptionist Christopher Studley-Gray told Brighton and Hove Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley he was inside the hostel when he heard the explosion as the electricity hit Mr Powell.
He said: “The lights went out very briefly for about half a second.
“It all went quiet. He started screaming.”
The inquest was told Mr Powell had become paranoid after he was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape – an allegation he denied and which police dropped within a month.
The 40-year-old called The Argus in his fight to clear his name and his story appeared on the front page on October 22.
He had told his probation and outreach workers that he had been threatened in the street because of his arrest, and said he was afraid of going to prison.
On October 24, he told Mr Studley-Grey he had been beaten up.
Hostel manager Issam Al-Naijar said he had spoken to Richie about his fears.
He said: “The allegation changed everything.
“That’s when he went off-track.
“Richie became very paranoid in the last period.
“He felt he was not safe in the hostel or outside on the street.”
The inquest was told the hostel had restricted how far its windows opened, following recommendations from Brighton and Hove City Council made after Richie’s death.
UK Power Networks, which runs the sub-station, is due to give evidence at the third day of the inquest on Monday.
Comments(20)
JuliaM
says...
10:29am Sun 17 Jun 12
And perhaps if one section of the emergency services weren't so keen to pander to the feminist lobby by arresting for rape as soon as an allegation is made, regardless of whether they have any evidence (or indeed if a rape has actually even taken place at all!) this could have been avoided.
mimseycal
says...
11:41am Sun 17 Jun 12
I sincerely hope that the individual who made this unsubstantiated allegation will realise what it has caused ... and I am not talking about wasted police time here ... I doubt it somehow.
Not all unsubstantiated allegations are without substance. However that does not mean that totally fictitious allegations aren't made. The people making those are not only wasting public funds and the time of the various authorities involved. They are causing harm to the people they target with their fictitious allegations. They are also denigrating all the only too real victims.
Trouble is, they are probably too self-centred and self serving to even grasp the enormity of their actions.
Hove Actually
says...
12:04pm Sun 17 Jun 12
JuliaM wrote:?
Mmmm.
And perhaps if one section of the emergency services weren't so keen to pander to the feminist lobby by arresting for rape as soon as an allegation is made, regardless of whether they have any evidence (or indeed if a rape has actually even taken place at all!) this could have been avoided.
If your Mother, Sister, Daughter or Grand-daughter was raped (hopefully not) and the police received a report which they sat on for an hour a day a week forever I am not so sure you would post such drivel.........hopef
ully
sbiscorrupt
says...
12:36pm Sun 17 Jun 12
After all until that point they are supposedly innocent...
However an accusation of this type is taken as guilt by many in society whatever the outcome.
mimseycal
says...
12:50pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post
says...
1:00pm Sun 17 Jun 12
D360
says...
1:24pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post wrote:I'm not sure what you think this story is trying to highlight. It seems to me that this chap made a really bad decision climbing on to a substation and paid the ultimate price for it.
Another thread of particularly unhelpful comments that do little to address the real and bigger issues this story tries to highlight.
Reflect on your post
says...
1:39pm Sun 17 Jun 12
mimseycal
says...
1:42pm Sun 17 Jun 12
D360 wrote:The damage that fictitious allegations can inflict on individuals.
Reflect on your post wrote:I'm not sure what you think this story is trying to highlight. It seems to me that this chap made a really bad decision climbing on to a substation and paid the ultimate price for it.
Another thread of particularly unhelpful comments that do little to address the real and bigger issues this story tries to highlight.
Then again, reflect on your post does little but reflect on the posts of others. So perhaps taking note of his largely non-constructive criticism might just be granting them a tad more importance then they warrant really ;)
Reflect on your post
says...
1:55pm Sun 17 Jun 12
mimseycal wrote:Reflect on your post says...
D360 wrote:The damage that fictitious allegations can inflict on individuals.
Reflect on your post wrote:I'm not sure what you think this story is trying to highlight. It seems to me that this chap made a really bad decision climbing on to a substation and paid the ultimate price for it.
Another thread of particularly unhelpful comments that do little to address the real and bigger issues this story tries to highlight.
Then again, reflect on your post does little but reflect on the posts of others. So perhaps taking note of his largely non-constructive criticism might just be granting them a tad more importance then they warrant really ;)
1:39pm Sun 17 Jun 12
The point here is surely that someone has taken a decision and then enacted it without considering the impacts on others, including inconvenience and cost to name but a few. Forgive me for having to point out the obvious, however the unspoken elephant is now out of the room.
MuammarQaddafi
says...
2:06pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post
says...
2:11pm Sun 17 Jun 12
MuammarQaddafi wrote:The point is, if you do - go onto substation roofs - please have sufficient funds allocated to compensate those you have inconvenienced and to repair the damage caused.
The point here is, I think, keep off substation roofs; you can get killed by electricity.
mimseycal
says...
2:12pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post wrote:I suggest reflect on your post that you look before you criticise ... those very same issues had been pointed out before your largely non-constructive but becoming a tad repetitive criticism.
mimseycal wrote:Reflect on your post says...
D360 wrote:The damage that fictitious allegations can inflict on individuals.
Reflect on your post wrote:I'm not sure what you think this story is trying to highlight. It seems to me that this chap made a really bad decision climbing on to a substation and paid the ultimate price for it.
Another thread of particularly unhelpful comments that do little to address the real and bigger issues this story tries to highlight.
Then again, reflect on your post does little but reflect on the posts of others. So perhaps taking note of his largely non-constructive criticism might just be granting them a tad more importance then they warrant really ;)
1:39pm Sun 17 Jun 12
The point here is surely that someone has taken a decision and then enacted it without considering the impacts on others, including inconvenience and cost to name but a few. Forgive me for having to point out the obvious, however the unspoken elephant is now out of the room.
Reflect on your post
says...
2:22pm Sun 17 Jun 12
mimseycal wrote:I suspect Mimseycal that you are reading a different thread as none of the points raised by myself have been made in the thread so far. Your comments are both repetitive and typically without fact and you would do well to take a break from the site for a few days to reflect on your posts.
Reflect on your post wrote:I suggest reflect on your post that you look before you criticise ... those very same issues had been pointed out before your largely non-constructive but becoming a tad repetitive criticism.
mimseycal wrote:Reflect on your post says...
D360 wrote:The damage that fictitious allegations can inflict on individuals.
Reflect on your post wrote:I'm not sure what you think this story is trying to highlight. It seems to me that this chap made a really bad decision climbing on to a substation and paid the ultimate price for it.
Another thread of particularly unhelpful comments that do little to address the real and bigger issues this story tries to highlight.
Then again, reflect on your post does little but reflect on the posts of others. So perhaps taking note of his largely non-constructive criticism might just be granting them a tad more importance then they warrant really ;)
1:39pm Sun 17 Jun 12
The point here is surely that someone has taken a decision and then enacted it without considering the impacts on others, including inconvenience and cost to name but a few. Forgive me for having to point out the obvious, however the unspoken elephant is now out of the room.
mimseycal
says...
2:37pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post
says...
2:45pm Sun 17 Jun 12
mimseycal wrote:“Give advice; if people don't listen, let adversity teach them”
None so blind as those who will not see
Number Six
says...
3:16pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post wrote:I must say your local Chinese clearly does a good line in fortune cookies.
mimseycal wrote: None so blind as those who will not see“Give advice; if people don't listen, let adversity teach them”
mimseycal
says...
3:45pm Sun 17 Jun 12
MuammarQaddafi
says...
4:47pm Sun 17 Jun 12
Reflect on your post wrote:Fair enough.
MuammarQaddafi wrote:The point is, if you do - go onto substation roofs - please have sufficient funds allocated to compensate those you have inconvenienced and to repair the damage caused.
The point here is, I think, keep off substation roofs; you can get killed by electricity.
Hove Actually says...
9:20am Sun 17 Jun 12