Pursued car collides with pedestrian - Bedfordshire Police, March 2018

On 14 March 2018, while crewed together in a police vehicle in Luton, two Bedfordshire police officers began a pursuit of a VW Golf when it failed to stop for police. The officers pursued the car through primarily residential streets for approximately two and a half minutes. As the pursuit continued, the VW Golf collided with a teenager who was crossing the street, and drove off. The police vehicle terminated the pursuit and stopped to administer life-saving first aid to the teenager, who suffered serious non-fatal injuries.

Our investigators undertook CCTV enquiries and collected a number of pieces of footage, as well as witness statements from the officers involved and other relevant police employees. They also obtained and reviewed body-worn camera footage from one of the officers, recordings from the police radio airwaves, and a download of data from the police vehicle; this showed the speed of the police car throughout the pursuit, as well as usage of its emergency equipment such as blue lights and sirens. Our investigators also reviewed the training records of the officers involved to confirm that they were appropriately trained to be conducting pursuits.

Evidence indicated that officers had complied with police guidance regarding pursuits and had no relevant contact with the young person which caused or contributed to their serious injuries. The investigation also noted that the first aid administered by the police officers to the teenager appeared to have significantly helped their recovery.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings, or had committed a criminal offence. We completed our investigation in December 2018.