Lincolnshire PC guilty of gross misconduct over Skegness pursuit death

A police officer who carried out an unauthorised pursuit which resulted in a man's death is guilty of gross misconduct, a panel has decided.

Kyle Johnson, 25, died when his car crashed near Skegness in March 2022. He had been followed by PC Jared Brereton at speeds of up to 103mph (166km/h).

The Lincolnshire officer, 26, admitted breaching police standards by ignoring an order to give up the pursuit.

Following a misconduct hearing he was issued with a final written warning.

The hearing heard the officer accepted his written account of the crash had not been "entirely accurate", but the panel accepted his claim that it had been his "honestly-held view" of events at the time.

The panel found him guilty of breach of orders and instructions, duties and responsibilities, but cleared him of dishonesty and breaching integrity and of discreditable conduct.

Giving the panel's outcome, David Tyme, the legally qualified chair, said PC Brereton had "disregarded an unambiguous instruction" to discontinue the pursuit on 4 March as he had not had the relevant training.

PC Brereton had claimed his actions had been justified to "protect the public", given he had seen Mr Johnson, suspecting him to have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs, swerving his VW onto the wrong side of the A52.

Mr Tyme said the panel did not accept this, stating traffic was light given the time of the incident.

He said the officer had continued to drive, at high speed and with the emergency lights and siren on, for about a mile (1.6km) until he noticed Mr Johnson's car had left the road and crashed into a tree.

However, he made it clear the officer's actions did not cause Mr Johnson's crash.

A second officer, PC Phoebe Chambers, who had been a passenger in the marked police car, was also accused of failing to challenge and report improper conduct and breaches of honesty and integrity.

The 24-year-old broke down in tears as she was cleared, with the panel accepting her account.

Simon Mallett, counsel for Lincolnshire Police, said Mr Johnson's family were "no longer of the view that either officer should be held accountable for his death".

He said the family, who attended the majority of the hearing, felt it would be "sad if two young officers were to lose their jobs", adding they had suggested additional training would be an appropriate outcome.

Mr Mallett said the family had met both officers and wished them "well for the future".

In a statement read out in court Mr Johnson's mother, Vicki Heaton, said: "Prior to attending the hearing I felt angry and upset by Kyle's death, and I believed the officers were partly to blame for my son's death.

"[But] having listened to the evidence over the past two days and the accounts given by PC Chambers and PC Brereton, I no longer blame either in any way for Kyle's death."

Mr Mallett told the panel PC Brereton, who joined the force in 2018, had previously been commended and was well-regarded by colleagues.

PC Brereton's counsel Julian King had urged the panel to not dismiss him from the force and told them he had displayed "proper understanding, reflection and insight".

The officer, who has a partner and a young child, was "remorseful", he added.

Derrick Campbell from the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigated the incident, said: "It was apparent from the evidence we gathered that PC Brereton knew that following the instruction not to pursue he should have followed policy by deactivating his emergency equipment, pulling off the road and going in a different direction.

"Despite the instruction PC Brereton continued to pursue at high speed until just before the tragic collision.

"The disciplinary panel found gross misconduct proven and the final written warning will stay on his record for two years."

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].