Man died after road traffic collision - Metropolitan Police Service, April 2021

On Tuesday 20 April 2021, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers attempted to stop a vehicle which was suspected of using a cloned vehicle number plate. These plates were registered to a grey Mercedes and the suspect vehicle was a black Audi. The vehicle was first seen by officers at 12:03am and officers pursued the vehicle. At approximately 12:15am, the driver of the suspect vehicle de-camped from his car, which then collided with a metal railing outside the entrance to Hounslow Railway Station. The driver had exited the vehicle before impact and fled. He ran into the station and jumped down onto the railway tracks where he made contact with a live electrified line. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

During the course of the investigation, we obtained statements from all officers involved in the pursuit as well as officers who attended the scene afterwards. Statements were also obtained from British Transport Police as well as Network Rail staff and National Police Air Support. We downloaded and reviewed body worn video footage and the recordings from the on-board police car equipment.

Our investigation concluded in September 2021.

We concluded there was no indication any officers had a case to answer for misconduct that would justify disciplinary proceedings, or committed a criminal offence.

An inquest in 2023 found a conclusion of misadventure and the cause of death was given as electrocution.

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.