Norfolk police hit-and-run: Delay stopped drink drive test
An outside police force was asked to look at what might have gone wrong after criminal charges were dropped against the Norfolk officer who failed to stop after driving into the back of another car at 49mph.
A roads police armed response officer has no memory of crashing into the back of a motorist despite it being caught on dashcam (Image: Newsquest/Norfolk Constabulary)
The extraordinary case has prompted outrage from members of the public and from former Norfolk police officers since this newspaper revealed it earlier this month.
PC Karl Warren, who was at the wheel of a BMW X5 armed response vehicle when it collided with an Audi on the A146 at Barnby, near Lowestoft, ended his shift without being spoken to about the collision.
He was first challenged about his actions the day after the crash after another officer, PC Ryan Hargrave - who was a passenger in the BMW at the time - emailed a sergeant to report the incident. The external peer review, carried out by an officer from the serious collision investigation unit at Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police, concluded the delay in reporting the accident to a supervisor prevented the officer being breath-tested. He was also not subject to a drug wipe or field impairment testing, a way for police to assess if drivers are intoxicated. Criminal charges against PC Warren were later dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after he said he had no recollection of the crash on March 5 last year. He will also not face misconduct charges after medical evidence that he was suffering an episode of transient global amnesia (TGA), a sudden temporary episode of memory loss. PC Warren had initially faced criminal charges of failing to stop or report an accident and driving without due care and attention. Norfolk Constabulary said during the investigation evidence regarding his medical condition was obtained but that after liaison with the CPS charges were still brought. However further medical evidence from a London consultant, in addition to a medical report provided by the NHS specialist neurologist consultant, an expert in GTA, later found he was “unlikely to have known what was happening at the time of the incident or have any recollection of it”. In a letter sent to the victim, seen by this newspaper, the CPS said the criminal case against PC Warren had to be stopped as a result. “The evidence of the expert was very thorough, and we have no other evidence to rebut the findings,” it added.
The crash involved a Norfolk and Suffolk roads and armed policing BMW X5 (Image: Newsquest)
WHY DID CPS STOP CRIMINAL CHARGES?
PC Warren drives on failing to stop or report the crash saying he has no memory of the acciden (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)