Road traffic collision resulting in serious injury – Greater Manchester Police, December 2020

A police officer was driving a police vehicle that struck a teenage boy who was 15 at the time of the incident in December 2020, while responding to an emergency call.
Following a mandatory referral from GMP, we independently investigated the manner of driving by three GMP officers, who were responding to a report of a domestic incident involving a man with a knife.

We reviewed CCTV footage of the journey, body-worn video from the officers, and police radio transmissions. We also obtained statements from witnesses and interviewed the drivers of the police vehicles.

Evidence gathered during the investigation showed the officer subject to our investigation drove the vehicle at speeds of 61mph prior to the collision on Garners Lane, where the speed limit was 30mph.

As a basic level police driver, she was required to observe all speed limits and was not entitled to use the statutory exemptions available to police drivers who have had advanced training.

Her vehicle was one of three driving in convoy, having left the police station at the same time to attend the incident. When information about the knife came through on the radio, another officer who was trained and authorised to drive above the speed limit, overtook and switched on their emergency lights.

Speed data from the police car showed the police officer initially slowed down slightly to allow her colleague to overtake, but then increased her speed again. While following the other vehicle, she reached speeds of more than twice the legal limit.

While on Garners Lane, she overtook a member of the public’s car and in doing so went on the wrong side of a traffic island and struck the teenage boy as he was crossing the road.

On conclusion of the investigation in September 2021, we passed a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service, who authorised a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The officer was found guilty and convicted following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court in April 2023.

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.