After 18 months of hell two hours is not very long -- but for Michael Menson's family every minute must have seemed an eternity.

Those crucial two hours were the time it took a jury at Hornsey Coroners Court to decide that Mr Menson was unlawfully killed.

The 30-year-old former pop star, of Holden Lodge, Springfield Road, New Southgate, was discovered in Edmonton in the early hours of January 28 last year engulfed in flames.

He died of his injuries two weeks later but, 18 months on, no-one has been arrested in connection with the attack and police are under fire for alleged incompetence and racism.

As a member of Eighties band Double Trouble Michael Menson had enjoyed chart success including a number two hit. His music career was in a lull but at the time of his death he was planning a comeback in studio work and management.

Initially it was believed Mr Menson, a registered schizophrenic, might have set himself on fire but he later told his family and hospital staff four white youths had been involved.

During two weeks of harrowing evidence at the recent inquest, forensic and medical experts said it was extremely unlikely Mr Menson had set himself on fire.

In the light of the coroner's verdict his family, who live in the area, are calling for a fresh investigation by another police force and have expressed serious doubts about the handling of the case by the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Menson's brother, Kwesi, said: "We feel vindicated and we think the police must now believe us and take this matter seriously. We feel the investigation was not carried out adequately and we want police from another force to examine all the evidence and find Michael's killers.

"Michael's injuries were terrible but we hoped he would survive. He was shocked and wanted to know why someone had done this to him. There was no reason for the attack.

"The first morning I saw him he told me he had been attacked by four white youths. As soon as I left him I telephoned the police and gave them the information. They didn't arrive for several days and when they did they didn't take a statement from Michael."

In fact a statement was never taken from Mr Menson and 16 days later he died. Notes made by Kwesi Menson at his brother's bedside are the only written account of Michael's ordeal.

The Menson family received an official letter from the Met just days before the inquest began which admitted mistakes had been made but offered no apology. Senior officers involved in the inquiry have subsequently retired making any disciplinary action impossible.

In a statement issued after the inquest John Townsend, a deputy assistant commissioner, described the death of Michael Menson as a tragedy.

He said: "The Metropolitan Police continues its thorough investigation to try and discover the circumstances surrounding his unlawful killing. I regret that for the first 12 hours police assumed Michael had set fire to himself. In order to minimise the effect of such assumptions in the future our procedures and practices for dealing with critical incidents have been tightened.

"Relations between the family and police were at times strained despite our best efforts to inform them of the progress of the case including confidential lines of inquiry."

Kwesi Menson said some of the evidence at the inquiry had never been shared with the family.

"We were waiting 18 months for this inquest and are extremely disappointed that no information was given to us before. Much of the evidence given we were hearing for the first time.

"We want changes so that what we went through in both our treatment by the police and the inquest system doesn't happen to anyone else."

The family's solicitor, Mike Schwarz, believes the case highlights shortcomings on the part of the Met and has similarities to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry where police failed to investigate racism as a factor in the death of the south London teenager.

He said: "There can only be a couple of explanations for the failings of the police in this case. One is incompetence and the other is racism, implicit or explicit.

"The last 18 months have opened up searching questions about the police and the inquest system. On behalf of the family I will be making representations to the Police Complaints Authority.

"I have also written to the Home Secretary asking him for a meeting with the family to discuss their wishes for a police force outside the Met to investigate Michael's death."

Meanwhile the Menson family are still hoping that Michael's killers will be found and brought to justice. Kwesi Menson said: "Michael was very quiet and caring, always willing to give up his time for other people. His killers must be caught. Someone in north London knows who killed him and we want anybody with information to come forward."

Anyone with information on the death of Michael Menson is asked to call The Monitoring Group, a Southall based legal advice and civil rights centre, on 0181 843 2333.

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