Collision resulting in death of passenger after vehicle pursuit - Greater Manchester Police, March 2022

On 20 March 2022, two police officers were in a marked police car on routine patrol when they became aware of a BMW car driving at speed, and went through a red light. The police driver engaged in a short pursuit with the BMW, which then crashed. The driver sustained serious injuries and the passenger died.

We specifically investigated:

• The nature and extent of police contact with the two men in the BMW
• The police driver’s decision to follow the BMW for approximately three minutes prior to commencing a pursuit
• The police driver’s decision to commence a pursuit
• The police driver’s dynamic risk assessments throughout the pursuit.

We obtained accounts from the police officers and reviewed body worn video footage. We considered this evidence against relevant policies and procedures.

Our investigation concluded in November 2022. We waited for all external proceedings to be completed before publishing our findings.

During the investigation there was no indication any police officer may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public confidence in the police complaints system, and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

In this case, we did not identify any organisational learning.