Greater Manchester Police officers did not pursue car involved in fatal Stalybridge collision

An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into the circumstances surrounding a fatal collision in Stalybridge found no evidence Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers had been in pursuit of the vehicle.

We received a mandatory referral from the force following the incident on Wakefield Road, on 3 November 2020, due to the fact a Volkswagen Golf had come to the attention of officers prior to it crashing into a wall at 6.21pm.

The driver of the vehicle, Shae Marlow, 16, died at the scene. An inquest on Friday (18 November) concluded the cause of death was a road traffic collision. The male passenger travelling with him was seriously injured.

Our independent investigation, which concluded in July 2021, looked at the nature and extent of police contact with the occupants of the vehicle prior to the collision. The officers involved were treated as witnesses throughout.

IOPC investigators reviewed CCTV footage, as well as data from the police vehicle, and obtained accounts from members of the public, the officers concerned and the passenger in the Golf.

We found officers were responding to reports of a burglary in the area, although the inquest heard police later found no evidence an offence had taken place. They saw the Golf, whose occupants matched the description of the suspects, and the police driver then increased their speed to identify its registration details.

The driver of the Golf accelerated away and as the police driver was not pursuit trained, he stopped and reported the vehicle to the force control room. Several minutes later, as the officers were returning to Stalybridge to respond to another incident, they saw the Golf had collided with a wall.

The evidence suggested the officers were not in pursuit of the Golf at any stage and had lost sight of it prior to the collision.

IOPC Regional Director Catherine Bates said: “This was a tragic incident in which a teenage boy sadly lost his life. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and all those affected by his death.

“It was important for an independent investigation to take place and establish the circumstances leading up the collision on 3 November 2020. Our report and findings were shared with the Coroner to assist with the inquest.

“We found the officers involved acted in line with their training and had pulled over a considerable distance from where the collision took place.”