Road traffic collision after police pursuit –West Yorkshire Police, October 2021

In October 2021, West Yorkshire Police officers on patrol in a marked police car saw a car appearing to exceed the speed limit in the East End Park area of Leeds.

The officers followed the vehicle for a short distance until it performed what they considered to be a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre. The officers used the police car’s emergency lights and siren to instruct the car to stop. The driver of the car did not stop for the officers and made off at speed, initiating an Initial Phase Pursuit which was authorised by the Force Command Hub supervisor.

The pursuit lasted for less than one minute before officers lost sight of the car and began an area search to find it. Meanwhile the driver of the car appears to

have lost control and struck a pedestrian. The police car drove past the site of this collision while searching for the car that made off.

Approximately three minutes later, during the search of the area, police officers came across the collision scene. They administered first aid to the pedestrian and called an ambulance. Sadly, the injured pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics a short time later.

IOPC investigators attended the scene and the Post Incident Procedure (a process following fatal or serious incidents, aimed at ensuring the best evidence is preserved and obtained from officers in relation to an incident, and that appropriate welfare support is provided). Witness statements were taken from police officers and members of the public.

Independent CCTV footage, police officers’ body-worn camera footage, and Airwave communication data was analysed and compared, along with vehicle telematics data and police incident logs. Training records of West Yorkshire Police officers and staff and relevant policy documents were also obtained and evaluated.

We finalised our investigation in April 2022.

We waited for all associated proceedings to be finalised before publishing our findings. In late 2023 the Coroner decided not to hold an inquest. 

We concluded there was no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner justifying the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.

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. 

We did not identify any organisational learning.