Police actions and decisions examined after fatal road traffic incident – Greater Manchester Police, December 2023

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers on routine patrol were checking the details of passing vehicles. They decided to stop a car as it was showing as uninsured and registered outside of the Greater Manchester area.

The officers spoke to the driver at the roadside. They believed the driver had given false details and they asked them to sit in their car. The driver drove off, and a police pursuit began.

Officers followed the car for approximately two minutes, driving through residential streets. They briefly lost sight of the car around a sweeping bend and when it appeared back into view, it had collided with an empty parked car.

The driver was taken to hospital and sadly died of their injuries. Two passengers were also seriously injured.

We received a death or serious injury referral from the force and decided to independently investigate the circumstances before, during and after the police pursuit. We examined whether the officers’ actions and decisions were appropriate and proportionate, and if the pursuit was conducted in line with the law and local and national policy. We also considered the contact police had with the occupants of the car in the immediate aftermath of the collision, including first aid.

Our investigators obtained and reviewed multiple statements from key police witnesses, members of the public and other professionals. Further evidence was analysed including CCTV, body worn video, radio transmissions and police forensic collision reports.

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.

We did find that officers went through a red light at speed during the pursuit. We recommended that the officers would benefit from addressing their performance with their line manager and with input from a police driving trainer.

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 are considering potential learning recommendations around post-incident procedures and will publish these if appropriate later this year.