Three episodes of police contact examined after man dies in road traffic incident – North Yorkshire Police, March 2025

In March 2025, North Yorkshire Police officers on patrol in a town centre witnessed and intervened in a verbal altercation between two groups of men on the street. The officers separated the two groups and advised them to part company.

A short time later, a man approached the officers and reported that the men from the other group had assaulted him. The officers offered medical assistance and to take a crime report, however, the man declined and walked away.

The officers had a third interaction with the man a short time later. Officers stopped a car in which the man was an occupant because of the manner of driving. The officers spoke with the three people inside the car.

Soon after, the officers saw a car turn onto a street and speed off, while a group of people gathered in the area. Officers drove up to the group and saw that the car had ran the man over, causing fatal injuries. The man died at the scene.

Officers subsequently arrested the driver of the car, along with the two other occupants. The occupants were the other men involved in the first verbal altercation on the street. The driver was charged with the man’s murder.

We received a death or serious injury referral from the force and decided to independently investigate whether the decisions made by the officers and the actions that they took were in line in local and national policies, procedures, guidance and training.

Our investigators obtained statements from the officers involved detailing their rationale for the decisions they made and actions during the incident. We obtained and examined CCTV and police body worn video footage.

We considered the decisions and actions of the officers against legislation and local and national policies relevant to managing crimes and antisocial behaviour.

We concluded there was no indication that a person serving with the police committed a criminal offence or behaved in a manner to justify disciplinary proceedings. All officers were treated as witnesses and cooperated fully with our investigation.

We found the officers acted appropriately in the circumstances, prioritising the safety of the people involved in the incident and following the national decision-making model (used to structure the way the police approach different scenarios and people). They could not have foreseen the events that occurred later that night.

The driver charged with the man’s murder was found not guilty in September 2025.

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 in this case.