No evidence of misconduct by police involved in collision, ombudsman finds

There was no evidence of misconduct by PSNI officers who were involved in a traffic collision while stopping a car being driven in the dark with its headlights off near Lisburn, the Police Ombudsman has found.

The incident happened in April after officers driving on a rural unlit road from Moira noticed the car’s headlights being turned off as it approached from the opposite direction.

Its driver later made a complaint alleging police had caused the collision, conducted a wrongful stop-and-search, and had been rude and unprofessional.

A Police Ombudsman investigator reviewed police body-worn video footage and relevant documentation, including the incident log recorded at the time and the duty statement of the police driver.

The officer, a trained initial pursuit driver, said she had considered it both dangerous and suspicious that the headlights of the oncoming vehicle had been switched off as it approached.

She turned her car around, activated its flashing lights and sirens and caught up with the other vehicle.

She said it then took about 10 to 15 seconds, at speeds close to the local 60mph limit, before the driver indicated to pull over. This caused her to consider seeking permission for a pursuit before the car began to slow down.

Even then, the officer said she suspected the driver might seek to flee.

This led her to use a trained technique called a “front stop”, designed to minimise the potential for escape.

When she pulled in front of the other vehicle, the cars collided.

While considering the allegation that the police driver and a colleague had been rude and unprofessional, an ombudsman investigator noted they had been required to quickly assert control over a potentially dangerous situation.

Having viewed the body-worn video footage, he found the police driver had acted robustly rather than rudely – first ensuring the car’s engine was switched off and that its driver did not need any immediate medical assistance.

The driver was also captured on video admitting to “messing about with the lights” before the collision.

The investigator found the officer and her colleague had then followed police guidelines by calling for another officer to investigate the collision, and by limiting their conversation with the other driver.

The ombudsman investigator said this was to ensure they did not seek to influence, and played no part, in the investigation of a collision in which they themselves had been involved.

In relation to the allegation the driver had been wrongfully stopped and searched, the investigator found no evidence, including any video footage, that either he or his car had been searched.

The decision to stop the vehicle was also found to have been compliant with legislation.

The investigator concluded: “I found no evidence of misconduct in the way police brought the suspect vehicle to a halt, or in their subsequent dealings with its driver.

“Instead, they followed PSNI guidelines to resolve a potentially dangerous situation and to ensure that they did not influence subsequent police inquiries.”