A police officer who crashed his armed response car into another vehicle before driving off will not face any charges, because he claims he cannot remember the incident.
The hit-and-run collision, on the A146 Barnby Bends near Lowestoft, and its aftermath has seen Norfolk Constabulary come in for heavy criticism, with MPs warning it risks further undermining public confidence in the force.
PC Karl Warren was on duty in a marked BMW X5 when he rammed into the back of an Audi A1 at 49mph, damaging the other car.
The driver of the Audi pulled in at the next safe opportunity and expected the police vehicle to do the same. However, PC Warren drove on without stopping.
Another officer, PC Ryan Hargrave, was also in the car at the time, but failed to report the crash until the following day, meaning his colleague could not be breathalysed.
The 34-year-old victim reported the incident to Norfolk Constabulary and following an internal investigation, PC Warren initially faced criminal charges of failing to stop or report an accident and driving without due care and attention.
However, the charges - and police misconduct procedures - were later dropped.
An internal police report, seen by this newspaper, found that the decision came after medical experts said PC Warren had suffered an episode of a condition called 'transient global amnesia' (TGA), which has wiped his memory of the crash.
He remains a serving officer, though police say he has had his firearms and driving permits revoked and is working in an "administrative" role.
The extraordinary case has left the force facing a number of questions. These include:
- What responsibilities does PC Warren still hold?
- Does his condition undermine any of his police work before the crash, for instance criminal prosecutions he may have been involved in and court cases where he might have given evidence?
It comes at a time when public confidence in the police across the UK is falling, following a series of high profile scandals involving serving officers.
The woman PC Warren crashed into - who has asked not to be named - said: “I could not believe he didn’t stop. It showed zero regard for my wellbeing or my safety. I would like the force to tell me how on earth he can still be a serving officer if he cannot remember something like this?"
Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, where the woman lived at the time, said the incident could further damage the reputation of the police.
“This is exactly the sort of incident that leads to people losing confidence in the police, coming on top of other high profile misconduct cases that have come to light recently," he said.
At the time of the crash, a second officer, PC Ryan Hargrave, was also in the vehicle. He is facing a misconduct hearing for not immediately reporting the accident and not following proper procedures, including failing to breathalyse his colleague.
Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford said the incident “reflects poorly on the constabulary” but insisted it had “taken what action we can in response to it”.
“I am very sorry for what happened to the lady concerned in this case," he said. "What happened to her should not have happened, we absolutely recognise that.”
Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney - the constituency where the crash occurred - said he would be raising the issue at his next regular monthly meeting with police.
"My sympathies are with the lady concerned. I can appreciate that this would be a traumatic event for her,” he added.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE A146?
The crash occurred at 1.07pm on Saturday March 5 last year on the 50mph Barnby Bends on the A146, while both vehicles were travelling from Lowestoft to Beccles.
The policemen had been working since 7am on a shift due to finish at 3pm and were heading back towards Norfolk having previously looked for a car in Great Yarmouth, patrolled in Lowestoft and travelled to A11 at Snetterton to intercept another car.
The woman noticed the police BMW, which was not responding to an emergency call and did not have its sirens or blue lights on, speeding up behind her.
“There was nowhere for me to go; I took hold of my steering wheel tightly and was preparing for the collision from behind,” she told police who later investigated the crash.
“It was a large jolt, which has caused me to jolt forward in my driving seat. I could feel my vehicle being shunted forward, even though both vehicles were travelling along the road.”
“Shaken up” she put her hazard lights on and pulled over into the forecourt of a car wash “expecting the police vehicle to pull in behind me, but to my shock and surprise it passed me by and continued on its journey”.
She took down the police car's registration as it went past. "I just burst into tears over what had happened," she added.
The crash was captured on the police car's on-board camera.
The subsequent investigation found that the police car was travelling at 49mph at the moment of impact.
It found no fault at all with the woman's driving.
The collision left a sizable dent to the rear of her car and she phoned her partner before driving home and contacting police to report it.
Giving the police vehicle registration number, she told the control room she was “totally disgusted by this officer’s behaviour”.
“This has damaged my trust and confidence in the police as a result and it is not what I expect from the police,” she told investigators.
She said she had expected the driver to be “held accountable for their actions” the same as any member of the public.
WHAT DID THE POLICE DO?
Following the crash the two police officers drove on without stopping, continuing to the police station at Acle.
PC Hargrave, who was a passenger in the police vehicle, told investigators that immediately after the collision, he asked his colleague “what happened there?” and “are you not going to stop?”
However PC Warren had “just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head at me with a bit of a nonchalant expression on his face and continued to drive”, he added.
He said the pair had no further conversation about the collision but he had expected PC Warren to report it when they arrived at Acle but he hadn’t.
READ MORE: How could amnesia wipe memory of hit-and-run police driver?
PC Hargrave, who was new to the Roads and Armed Policing Team (RAPT), admitted he also did not mention it to two inspectors at the station before ending their shift at 3pm.
He said he had tried to contact a sergeant he knew who was not on duty at the time. However, he did not report the accident until the following morning when he sent an email at 8.12am having started that day’s shift at 7am.
He told investigators: “I feel completely that I didn’t do the right thing at the time; there were plenty more actions that I could have taken and I feel bad that there was such a delay, it went on more at the time than it should have done.
“I feel bad I didn’t check on the other person’s welfare or get the vehicle turned around or challenge the other officer.”
PC Warren was “immediately placed on restricted non-operational duties” and has had his driving and firearms permits revoked, police said.
During an interview as part of a professional standards investigation he said he had “no recollection” of the incident.
He admitted as a police driver he should have stopped, exchanged details, notified a supervisor and been breathalysed.
But he told police investigators: “I haven’t stopped and reported it because I have no recollection of it happening, and I believe that’s due to the fact that I have had an episode of trans global amnesia.”
READ MORE: Could hit-and-run police officer’s memory loss affect other cases?
Norfolk Constabulary said expert evidence had found PC Warren had “experienced a medical episode behind the wheel, which couldn’t have been predicted”.
A spokesman said: “It also means the officer is unlikely to have known what was happening at the time of the incident or have any recollection of it.”
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE TWO OFFICERS?
PC Hargrave has been referred to a misconduct meeting, which can impose penalties including a written or final warning but cannot sack him.
“The vehicle should have stopped after the collision and we’re sorry that didn’t happen," said the police spokesman.
“We carried out a thorough criminal investigation, which was independently reviewed by another force.
"A full misconduct investigation has also been carried out. All proper procedures were followed once this incident was brought to our attention.”
Criminal charges against PC Warren were discontinued after evidence from a London consultant and a medical report provided by an NHS specialist neurologist consultant.
Norfolk police said he is currently working in an administrative “non-operational role” not dealing with the public and is not involved in criminal investigations, pending further medical assessment.
Chief constable Paul Sanford said: “Every day when I come to work I see the outcomes of exceptional policing, it therefore does disappoint me and really hurts me when we get things wrong.
“I know that the only way that we can increase trust in the service is to demonstrate when things do go wrong we take the action that we can.
“In this case, which is unusual I think it is fair to say, we have taken the action that we can given the evidence that has been put in front of us.”
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