Conduct of an officer involved in vehicle and pedestrian collisions - Cambridgeshire Constabulary, August 2017

A Cambridgeshire Constabulary police officer was involved in a brief pursuit of a vehicle around 8.15pm on 29 August 2017 on Morley Way in Peterborough.

During the pursuit, the police vehicle struck the vehicle it was pursuing. Following this the occupants of the vehicle got out and began to run away.

The officer driving the police vehicle then struck a young man with the police vehicle twice. The young man sustained head injuries and a dislocated shoulder as a result.

During our investigation, our investigators examined the dash-camera footage from the police vehicle, the radio transmissions made by officers and the vehicle data. We interviewed the driver of the police vehicle under misconduct and criminal caution, but they declined to comment.

Based on the evidence available, we were of the opinion that there was sufficient evidence that a reasonable tribunal, properly directed, could find that the driver of the police vehicle had a case to answer for gross misconduct.

We completed our investigation in December 2017.

We also passed on a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider a number of possible criminal charges. The police driver was acquitted of the charge of dangerous driving following a trial in spring 2019.

After reviewing our report Cambridgeshire Constabulary agreed with our determinations. At a gross misconduct hearing, held in autumn 2019, an independent panel found gross misconduct proven for the police driver. The officer had resigned from the force, but the panel found that they would have received a final written warning, had they still been serving.