Notts Police driver charged over serious road collision

A Nottinghamshire Police officer has been charged with causing serious injury by careless driving following an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into a crash that left a woman with multiple fractures.

PC Rachel Wakefield was driving a marked police response car on 12 August last year when she collided with a 65-year-old woman at a pedestrian crossing in Woodhouse Way.

The officer – who was driving a Skoda Octavia with blue lights and sirens activated – was responding to reports of someone with a firearm in the Kimberley area when the collision occurred at 3.47pm.

Nottinghamshire Police made a mandatory referral to us on 13 August, and we decided to independently investigate what happened.

We sent a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service on 19 February which subsequently authorised a charge of causing serious injury by careless driving.

The officer is due to attend Derby Magistrates Court on 13 April for a first appearance.