Collision following pursuit - Hampshire Constabulary, April 2018

At approximately 4.45am on 6 April 2018, two Hampshire Constabulary officers in a marked police vehicle identified a car travelling northbound on the M3 motorway. Hampshire Constabulary and Wiltshire Police had been conducting searches to locate this car, a silver Jaguar, due to reports that it had been involved in two burglaries.

The officers, who did not have any lights or sirens activated at the time, decided to follow the Jaguar until further police units were in position to try to stop it. The driver of the police vehicle had advanced driver training and updated the control room on the location and direction of travel of the Jaguar. The Hampshire Constabulary control room directed further police resources, including a police helicopter, towards the M3.

Approximately two minutes after the Hampshire Constabulary officers began to follow the Jaguar, the driver of the Jaguar swerved across three lanes of traffic and left the M3 at a junction. The driver of the Jaguar also drove through a red traffic light with no indication of attempting to stop.

The Hampshire Constabulary officers updated their control room, activated the lights and sirens on their police vehicle, and began to pursue the Jaguar.

A Wiltshire Police officer who was on the M3 in an unmarked car had seen the Jaguar and the Hampshire Constabulary vehicle drive past and followed a few hundred meters behind, also activating his blue lights.

The Jaguar returned to the northbound M3 and accelerated to speeds of approximately 120 miles an hour, followed by the Hampshire Constabulary officers.

The Jaguar accelerated up the slip road at junction 5 and collided with a stationary maintenance vehicle. The driver of the Jaguar suffered serious injuries and one passenger was kept in hospital for observations. The two other passengers were released from hospital with no injuries. No other members of the public were hurt.

Following the collision, our investigators attended the scene and post-incident procedures. A number of police officers and control room staff provided witness statements detailing their involvement in the pursuit. We also took accounts from witnesses to the pursuit and collision. The Wiltshire Police vehicle had in-car video footage, which was downloaded and analysed. We reviewed Hampshire Constabulary radio transmissions and incident logs, alongside an incident log from Wiltshire Police.

Based on the evidence available we were of the opinion that the pursuit had been conducted appropriately. Although the presence of the police vehicle appeared to contribute to the behaviour of the driver of the Jaguar, there was no evidence to indicate any police officer caused or contributed to the driver crashing while trying to accelerate away from the police.

The investigation found no indication that any person serving with the police may have behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings.

After reviewing our report, the force agreed with our findings.