Tuesday 20 May 2008

I Thought 'Softly, Softly' Was the New Watchword...?

This could be a very bad blow to police/public relations:
A girl of 16 died after being knocked down by a police car as it followed a suspect vehicle down a residential street. Hayley Adamson was thrown 50ft into the air after she was struck by the marked patrol car at 11.20pm last night.

It was one of two patrol cars following a suspicious vehicle that had shown up on the officers' in-car Number Plate Recognition System as having no insurance or tax.
Seems a bit of an overreaction for such a minor infraction, doesn’t it? I didn’t think that kind of ‘low level’ crime warranted a late night pursuit:
Eyewitness David Forrest, 20, was among the group walking with the popular youngster when the crash occurred.

He said: "There were seven of us and we were about to cross the road. I was at the front of the group and as I looked both ways I could not see any vehicles coming.”

"Hayley was right behind me in the group, but when I crossed the road and reached the curb on the other side I heard an almighty bang.”

"I turned round to look and a police car had hit Hayley and thrown her about 50ft down the road.The police car had come out of nowhere. There were two police cars and neither had flashing lights on or their sirens going. The car that hit Hayley didn't even have headlights on.”.
Well, the inquest and forensic examination will prove whether this was an accurate reflection of what happened, but the police don’t appear to have covered themselves with glory in their reaction to the aftermath:
Hayley's 23-year-old boyfriend, George Oliver, was apparently tasered by officers and arrested after remonstrating with police.
It seems he isn’t the only one :

Police have warned they will not tolerate disorder in the wake of the death of a 16-year-old girl who died when she was hit by a patrol car.
Northumbria Police said several arrests were made after trouble flared following the death of Hayley Adamson in Denton Road, Newcastle, on Monday.

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