Met Police officer not at fault for fatal West London collision

A Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officer, who was responding to an emergency call before the vehicle he was driving was involved in a fatal collision, acted in accordance with the relevant policies and procedures, our investigation has concluded.

An inquest, which ended on 12 October at Westminster Coroner’s Court, determined Jade Mutua, 22, died as a result of a road traffic accident.

On 13 August 2019 at 9.54pm, MPS officers responding to an emergency call in a marked police vehicle - following a report of a woman being threatened by a group with a knife - were in collision with Ms Mutua, in Warwick Road, Kensington.

She had entered the road from beside a parked Land Rover Freelander and sustained serious injuries. Officers gave emergency first aid but sadly she died in hospital two days later.

Our investigation, which concluded in November 2020, looked at the actions and decisions of MPS officers and staff prior to the collision, the manner of the police officer’s driving and the medical assistance provided by officers at the scene.

We examined an MPS forensic collision report which studied the response officer’s reaction times to Ms Mutua entering the road. Research studies suggest most normal road drivers, under test conditions, are able to respond to an unexpected hazard in 0.7 to 1.5 seconds, with 0.7 considered “extremely swift”.

According to the analysis, the MPS driver responded in 0.6 seconds and the police car was travelling at around 62mph in a 30mph zone, prior to the officer’s emergency braking. She was struck at 53mph.
IOPC regional director Charmaine Arbouin said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with Ms Mutua’s family, friends and all those affected by her untimely and tragic death, including the officers involved.

“Our investigation found no indication that any Metropolitan Police Service officers behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence.

“However, we did identify the need for the Metropolitan Police to provide radio batteries which will last the duration of an officer’s full shift. On this occasion the officers had to return to their police vehicle in order to send a radio message to other units following the collision.”

As part of our investigation, IOPC investigators attended the scene and conducted a detailed examination.

A number of witness statements were taken from police officers and members of the public. CCTV footage and police officers’ body-worn camera footage was analysed and compared, along with a download from the police vehicle’s incident data recorder.