The dad of a teenage biker who died after a crash on Snake Pass has criticised an offer of compensation from the police as an 'insult'. Darren Wakefield's son George, 19, died when the motorcycle he was riding hit an oncoming vehicle, leaving him with several broken bones and resulting in medical complications that led to his death.
The car which hit Mr Wakefield had been attempting to manoeuvre around a parked police van and recovery vehicle that had been dealing with an abandoned motorcycle, DerbyshireLive reports. An inquest found that both the position of the police vehicle and the police management of the recovery contributed to George's death.
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Darren has criticised the handling of the incident by police on the day of the crash, Derbyshire Constabulary's dealings with the family since the young man's death and the level of compensation they were offered. George's inquest concluded on November 4, 2022, and Darren says a couple of weeks before proceedings were due to start the police offered the family compensation.
"The amount they [Derbyshire Police] offered us wasn't laughable, it was an insult to us and George. Four years later with no mention of compensation they then originally offered us £2,600 and then that went up to £3,400," said Darren.
"Our solicitor was told that based on police findings George was 74 per cent responsible. We turned down the money."
The inquest held at Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard that a forensic scene investigator estimated George was travelling between 50-85mph on the bend prior to the collision. A motorcycle rider himself, Darren has questioned this, saying that "even a MotoGP rider wouldn't be going 85mph around that corner."
"No one knows how fast he was travelling, they never will and in the early days they told me they couldn't work out speeds from a collision with a motorbike into a car."
An 11-person jury did find it "probable" that the speed at which George was travelling on his motorcycle contributed to his death.
Darren also cited the officers involved in the incident's original statements where they both said they weren't trained in recovering vehicles in the type of situation which occurred on the day of the collision.
They were part of the recovery of a stolen motorbike that was down a grassy verge roughly 50 metres around the corner of a blind bend. The inquest heard that no signs were put out by police warning motorists coming around the blind corner that there would be traffic on the wrong side of the road due to the recovery operation.
A Highways England worker for 18 years, Darren said: "I have visited the site myself and I couldn't believe the lack of precaution or risk assessment. I have worked in traffic management for a long time and in that situation there is no way I could control two-way traffic on my own, never mind an officer who supposedly had not been trained in that situation."
Since this incident, an e-learning package has been developed for Derbyshire police on the proper protocols to follow when recovering vehicles on bends. The officers involved with the incident have also now received this training, the original inquest heard.
Darren is also upset about the behaviour of a family liaison officer (FLO) assigned to gather evidence and take information and statements from the Wakefield family following George's death. The Wakefield family have made a formal complaint, alleging that the FLO acted in an "unprofessional" and "insensitive" manner.
As Darren's statement was being taken, he said that the assigned FLO would fill pauses with telling the family inappropriate details of previous cases they had worked on. These included details of a murder case on Woodhead Pass where a chopped-up body was found in a burnt suitcase.
A spokesperson for Derbyshire police said: "The family liaison officer was given management action in the form of advice following a complaint. The officer also apologised to the family and was replaced with another officer."
Chief Superintendent Dave Kirby said: “Firstly, I want to again express my own condolences to the family of George Wakefield. Again, as a parent myself, I can only imagine how painful the loss of George has been and my thoughts remain with his parents, wider family, and friends.
"Following the inquest, George Wakefield’s family have engaged with the force’s legal team and have instigated a civil claim, so to discuss this any further would be inappropriate. The circumstances of the collision have been reviewed in great deal over the course of this inquest and it is clear that more could have been done on that day to prevent George’s death.
"Following reviews by both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), it was deemed that the actions of the officers should be dealt with by way of a misconduct meeting. This meeting, which was led by an independent force, determined that the two officers should be dealt with by way of a written warning.
"Due to the various organisations involved, a significant time has passed since the incident and the force has co-operated fully with both the IOPC and CPS throughout that time. Following the incident, a number of changes have been made to the training that officers receive.
"While training was delivered around fast roads prior to this incident, officers now receive a specific training package into how to deal with road closures and obstructions.”
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