Shannon McQuillan: Mother sues PSNI chief Jon Boutcher and Ambulance Service over daughter’s death

The mother of a teenager knocked down and killed after being left at the side of a road by police is suing PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher and the NI Ambulance Service.

Shannon McQuillan[1] (19), from Dunloy[2], died after she was struck by a van on the Moneynick Road, near Toome[3] in Co Antrim, in January 2018, a short time after leaving the back of an ambulance which was taking her to hospital.

Her boyfriend, Owen McFerran (21), from Ballymoney[4], was left fighting for his life after the accident, which took place in the early hours on the old main Derry to Belfast road.

He has been left with life-changing injuries.

The collision occurred after the couple left an ambulance taking Ms McQuillan to hospital following a fall, which resulted in a head injury, near a nightclub in Magherafelt, Co Derry.

In a report presented to both families last week, the Police Ombudsman concluded that officers breached a duty of care after Ms McQuillan and her boyfriend were left at a bus stop by three officers and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) staff.

The ombudsman said ambulance staff pulled into a layby near Toome while police were called "following concerns about Ms McQuillan's behaviour".

In response three PSNI officers attended the scene.

After discussions between ambulance staff and police "the couple got out of the ambulance and were left, alone, at a bus shelter on the Moneynick Road", the ombudsman said.

Police later received calls about two people walking in the middle of the road and that a vehicle had collided with them.

The ombudsman found there was "multiple breaches in the duty of care offered to Ms McQuillan and Mr McFerran by police officers".

The Irish News revealed last week that one of the officers, who gave evidence at an inquest into the teenager's death in June last year, has been promoted twice since the accident.

The PSNI man held the rank of sergeant at the time and was a supervisor to the two other officers directly involved.

He has since been promoted twice and is currently listed on a PSNI website as a "temporary chief inspector".

It is believed the promotions were made before the Police Ombudsman's investigation was completed and after the officer was disciplined by the force.

In 2022, the officer, referred to by the ombudsman as Police Officer C, faced five charges at a PSNI Professional Standards Department (PSD) misconduct hearing.

The PSD panel later found he "had breached the PSNI code of ethics...and this amounted to gross misconduct".

He later received a written warning.