And The Oscar Goes To….

An off-duty police chief inspector whose car struck a university student on a dual carriageway failed to stop and claimed he thought he had hit a post, despite having the victim's blood and skin on his shattered windscreen, a court heard today.

Odd kind of ‘post’, that. The ones I know don’t bleed…

It’s not as if he was to blame, either:

Malcolm Morse, prosecuting, told jurors that Jones was not to blame for Mr Cheung's death as the student emerged on the road just a second or two before the collision.

The inspector is charged with misconduct in a public office for failing to stop at the scene and dangerous driving.

The charge of dangerous driving relates not to his driving before the collision, but to the allegation that he continued to drive with a smashed windscreen.

So, when did he stop?

The court heard that after the collision Jones, of Allesley, Coventry, drove home and called a police station in the city.
He told officers he needed someone to come to his home and said he believed he had hit a post.

A post that bled…

When two police officers arrived at his home he told them he had heard a ‘loud pop’ as his windscreen smashed and he hoped he had not struck a person, Mr Morse said.

He added: ‘In response to their silence he said words to the effect of, “Oh God, it was a person wasn't it?”'

‘Beautiful, daahling, just beautiful! On the next take, could we see some tears? A quivering lip? Super!’