Police ‘justified’ in car chase which left passenger seriously injured

Police were justified in chasing a car which crashed leaving a female passenger seriously injured, an independent body has ruled.

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) published a report on Wednesday about the incident which happened at Beach Road in Troon just after midnight on October 18 last year.

Officers in a marked vehicle noticed the car driving erratically on the streets of the Ayrshire town and activated blue lights and siren.

Depsite initally appearing to slow down the driver then accelerated, leading police on a two-mile pursuit until he failed to negotiate a bend and crashed into the boundary wall of a house.

He was injured and the female passenger seriously injured, with the Pirc report saying the incident was caused by the man driving at excessive speed and losing control of the car.

The man was arrested and charged with dangerous driving, and was recently sentenced to 27 months in prison – allowing the Pirc report to be published.

It said: “The pursuit was carried out in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures and was justified and proportionate to the circumstances.

“The cause of the road crash and the injuries to the female passenger were as a result of the driver of the car driving at excessive speed and losing control of the car.”