Met Police officer cleared over car chase death of 10-year-old and aunt
A Metropolitan Police officer has been cleared over the deaths of a 10-year-old boy and his aunt following a police chase.
Pc Edward Welch, 34, was in pursuit of a stolen Ford Focus car when it mounted the pavement and hit Makayah McDermott, a child actor, and 34-year-old Rozanne Cooper in Penge, south-east London, on Aug 31, 2016.
A second child, aged 10 at the time, was seriously injured, the Old Bailey heard.
The court heard how, during a six-minute chase through residential and one-way streets, Mr Welch’s police BMW car reached speeds of more than 60mph.
The court heard the vehicle that was being chased was driven by 19-year-old Joshua Dobby. He lost control of the car on Lennard Road, crashing into a bollard and crushing the three victims.
Dobby was later convicted of two counts of manslaughter by gross negligence and one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Mr Welch, from Chatham, Kent, denied two charges of causing death by dangerous driving, one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and an alternative charge of dangerous driving.
The married father of two told jurors he had joined the Met at the age of 20 and undergone training in advanced driving.
He said: “I have always wanted to be a police officer. It was my dream as a child. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I just wanted to help people. That is what police do – stop bad coming into the world, helping people.”
‘He was driving at excess speed’
On Aug 31, 2016, Mr Welch said he was notified that a lost or stolen Ford Focus had activated an ANPR camera on Penge High Street.
He responded with blue lights and sirens as he searched the local area, including “crime hotspots”, but did not locate the vehicle. At about 2pm, he spotted it while he and a colleague were responding to a road traffic collision.
He told jurors: “There was traffic in front of us in Avenue Road, so I activated my blue lights and sirens to safely facilitate myself through the traffic towards the subject vehicle. I can categorically say he was driving at excess speed on Mackenzie Road.”
Asked what the aim of having lights and sirens on was, he said: “Alerting members of the public, pedestrians, and other road users of what’s going on. It’s a clear audible sign you have got a marked police vehicle behind and to stop.”
The defendant said he had been made aware the vehicle was involved in the theft of fuel, but not about an earlier pursuit five days before in Kent.
The jury heard how Mr Welch had assessed the risk at one point during the pursuit as “low”.
However, the prosecution alleged that on “any sensible analysis, the risk posed by the pursuit, taking account of the driving of both vehicles, was at a higher level of risk”.
When asked to explain his assessment at the time, Mr Welch said his “visibility was good” and the road he was on was straight.
A jury deliberated for half a day to find him not guilty of the charges against him. He sighed heavily after the unanimous verdicts were delivered, thanking jurors as he left the dock.
