Member of the public injured in collision during pursuit - South Yorkshire Police, June 2019

At 4.57pm on 28 June 2019, a South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officer on mobile patrol in a marked police car attempted to stop a Land Rover Discovery. The Discovery failed to stop and an authorised police pursuit took place through both residential and rural areas. During the pursuit, the Discovery drove through a railway level crossing barrier and also left the road and drove through a field before rejoining the road. The Discovery attempted to overtake several cars on a blind bend in contravention of a solid white line and collided head-on with an oncoming Honda on the opposite side of the road. The driver of the Honda sustained significant and life-threatening injuries. The police arrested the Discovery driver and his passenger at the scene.

We obtained statements from several key police witnesses involved in the pursuit. We also secured and reviewed the in-car camera footage from the police car and police radio transmissions relating to the pursuit, along with the police in-car data which showed the speed of the police car. We identified and obtained accounts from several independent witnesses who witnessed part of the pursuit.

The available evidence indicated that the police driver and other police staff acted in accordance with local policy and procedure during the pursuit.

Our investigation concluded there was no indication that any police officers or police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. There was also no indication that the police caused or contributed to the collision or the injuries sustained. All were treated as witnesses. We completed our investigation in December 2019.