Remembering

Seven years ago today myself and former colleagues walked into work to one of the most difficult fatal collision scenes one can imagine.

Four people travelling on a quad in darkness were hit by a car that was subsequently established to be travelling at 140mph.

The car had been doing timed runs between two roundabouts on a remote stretch of road and was being watched by onlookers who were also connected to the vehicle, signalling with torches from a bridge as to whether the road was clear. The people on the quad were unconnected to this group.?

The driver and the passenger from the car were arrested at the scene, however the group on the bridge had made off in various other cars that had been left parked up on the verges at the side of the road leaving four injured and some sadly already deceased people at the scene.

A fatal collision investigation ensued like no other I have been involved in and together with likeminded colleagues we set out to get answers and justice for the families of the youths on the quad.

We set out to trace the people who had been on the bridge and who were clearly part of this group that had been racing up and down the road at speeds which were really only fit for Formula 1.

There was no CCTV, the incident happened in the hours of darkness and witness testimony was limited from passer-by’s who had seen torches on the bridges and glimpses of cars and people in the hours leading up to the incident.

We ended up with a further 9 suspects after lots of digital investigations along with good old fashioned detective work and perseverance. My former colleague and good friend Andrew Lister I recall secured CCTV that not many other officers would have done (it was miles away from the scene and he recovered extended pieces of footage, not just the time of interest at the time) which proved vital in identifying some of these suspects in future parts of the investigation. This is an art of complex crime investigation and something that only comes with experience.

4 dead and 9 suspects.

I cannot emphasise the magnitude of this investigation – it was essentially a 2 vehicle collision at night so should be straight forward, and it would have been if we had taken the easy route of just dealing with the driver and passenger who had remained at the scene but there was a determination like no other to seek out who these people were on the bridge and to make them culpable for their involvement.?

We see these types of cases now and again in the news and I note there was one at the weekend in the north of the UK at a car meet. But little is done with those ‘spectators’. After all what can you charge these people with for just watching and how will you prove it anyhow?

This was something I recall a Detective Inspector saying to us during the investigation, words to the effect ‘what you going after those for – you will never get it home’. This DI was later to be proved wrong.

This was down to my supervisor at the time DS Carole Greaves who led the day to day investigations and overall planning on this case and once those additional 9 suspects were identified made arrangements to have them all arrested at the same time in early morning raids. You cannot underestimate the work that was required for this operation, not only did she get the resources but she meticulously planned all the interviews. Those in the police will know the size of this task.?

But it was done to maximise the investigative process so they could not talk to each other if we had brought them in one by one which I am sure other investigators would have done as bringing 9 in at once is in the too difficult box.

Following these arrests and interviews a further 5 suspects were identified. Yes you guessed it – the same thing happened with regards their arrests and interviews.

This was about making those people who had been part of an incident that had resulted in devastating consequences accountable for their actions but perhaps more importantly was about being able to go back to 4 victims families and being able to tell them who left their loved ones in the road after such an horrendous collision.

4 dead 16 suspects.

My (and others on the team) mental health at this time was under a great deal of stress and my brains elastoplasticity for dealing with trauma had gone beyond its limit but somehow, we had to keep going. I recall not being able to think properly, my brain was like fog most days and I simply couldn’t process information and think too clearly. I had managed an investigation previously with nine suspects, but this was different, I was more exhausted from the accumulative fatigue of dealing with trauma and the four victims added to the complexity and volume. Whilst my mental health was suffering, I was being kept afloat and supported by my supervisor – Carole. Unfortunately, she was also suffering but had nobody above her keeping her afloat – a story for another day.

We were supported on this investigation by a number of different officers and departments from Polsa search teams to digital media investigators and I know it had far and wide-reaching effects on many ‘hardened’ cops that had seen it all. However, they had not seen it all until they had seen it all and this incident sticks with them.

With early engagement with CPS and the appointment of a barrister who had the same appetite as us we managed to secure charges for the group of encouraging and assisting in the commission of a dangerous driving offence.

Criminal Trial held April 2017, driver and passenger pleaded to death by dangerous driving ahead of trail, 8 suspects pleaded guilty to offences of encouraging dangerous driving on the first day of the trail. 6 Further tried with 3 found guilty and 3 not guilty.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39975755

These convictions were only possible in my opinion due to the way the investigation was planned and handled by Carole Greaves. The effectiveness of firstly identifying the suspects and then maximising the process with simultaneous interviews left nothing but the truth to be exposed.

I doubt there will be many other investigations like it and on days like today it makes me proud to know that despite all our own difficulties in dealing with this case those victims families have all the answers.