Collision following pursuit - Suffolk Constabulary, October 2018

On 18 October 2018, in Ipswich, officers from Suffolk Constabulary engaged in a pursuit of a vehicle which made off from police. After approximately two minutes, the vehicle crashed and the driver attempted to flee on foot, but was arrested. The driver told officers that he believed he might have hit a pedestrian during the pursuit. Officers then located a child with serious injuries.

The force referred the incident to us the same day.

Our investigators attended the scene of the incident and supervised the gathering of evidence. We analysed the accounts of the officers in conjunction with available footage to ensure their accuracy. We also obtained the accounts given by witnesses, as well as police documentation relevant to the collision. We examined policies relating to police pursuits alongside the other available evidence to see if it had been followed adequately.

The police driver stated that he decided to pursue the suspect vehicle, with the goal of pulling it over by using blue lights and sirens. This was in order to detain the driver, based on the available intelligence that he was wanted in relation to a number of serious offences. All the evidence suggested that the child was struck by the driver while he was pursued by the police.

Based on the evidence available we found no indication that any person serving with the police 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 August 2019.

Following his arrest, the driver was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and other offences. He was later sentenced to 38 months imprisonment and a five-year disqualification from driving.