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.
The crash involved a Norfolk and Suffolk roads and armed policing BMW X5 (Image: Newsquest)
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.
WHY DID CPS STOP CRIMINAL CHARGES?
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”.
PC Warren drives on failing to stop or report the crash saying he has no memory of the acciden (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)
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.
Asked about that decision this week, a CPS spokesperson said: “During a careful and considered review of all the evidence in the case it was determined that the legal test was not met and there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction. As a result, the case was discontinued.
“This decision was reached by the CPS as the result of the expert medical evidence submitted by two respected consultant neurologists which was provided to assist the court.
“It is not the function of the CPS to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent, and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider.”
WHAT DID THE POLICE PEER REVIEW FIND?
The Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire officer was asked to review the case, including the lines of enquiry, and identify any missed opportunities.
After reviewing all documents from Norfolk police’s accident investigation, he agreed that the “complex medical defence” being raised meant the case had to be discontinued “based on there being no realistic prospect of conviction”.
He did not believe police seeking their own expert medical evidence would “yield anything different to the subsequent defence expert report”, he added.
The hit-and-run crash happened on the A146 at Barnby Bends, near Lowestoft (Image: Newsquest)
However, he said that prior to the evidence that PC Warren had experienced amnesia the case file submitted to CPS by Norfolk police had been detailed.
“It is my professional opinion that the investigation team completed all relevant lines of enquiry,” he said.
This newspaper has asked PC Warren and PC Hargrave to give an account of their actions but both have declined.