Fatal collision after pursuit - West Yorkshire Police, February 2018
On 9 February 2018, a West Yorkshire Police (WYP) officer in a marked police car saw a Toyota Auris car travelling towards him in the Bradford area of West Yorkshire. This car had activated automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras previously that day indicating that the car was stolen and was displaying false number plates. The officer illuminated his vehicle’s blue lights and pursued the Toyota for less than a minute prior to the car colliding with a roadside house and coming to a stop. The police officer arrived at the scene and discovered the male driver lying on the road near the car and unconscious. Officers and paramedics gave first aid to the man at the scene, he was transported to hospital where he later died from his injuries.
We obtained statements from members of the public who had witnessed the police car and the Toyota travelling at speed and also those who had witnessed the crash. We also obtained statements from all the police officers involved in the pursuit and its immediate aftermath. We reviewed WYP documentation relating to the theft of the Toyota and the ANPR camera activations and also reviewed the officers’ actions alongside local and national police policies. In addition, we also had access to and reviewed audio and visual data from the police car involved, data downloads from the Toyota and a toxicology report relating to the driver of the Toyota, which showed that he had recently consumed cannabis.
Our investigation found no evidence to indicate any police officer or member of police staff may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence. All police officers and staff were treated as witnesses and cooperated fully with this investigation. The investigation also found no evidence to indicate that any police officer or member of police staff may have caused or contributed to the man’s death.
We completed our investigation in August 2018. At the conclusion of the investigation, we shared our report with WYP, who agreed with our findings.
The man’s inquest was held in March 2020 and the coroner recorded a narrative conclusion.