A watchdog will investigate a road crash which resulted in the death of two teenagers and sparked a riot.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will probe 'any interaction' between South Wales Police officers and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15. It comes after CCTV footage emerged of a police vehicle following a bike prior to the incident.
The boys were killed on Monday evening in the Ely area of Cardiff, Wales, while riding an electric bike. A video began circulating on social media which appears to show a police vehicle following a bike being ridden by two people just a few minutes before the fatal crash.
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South Wales Police said the video clip which was taken from a nearby house's CCTV camera would form part of its investigation. There were no police vehicles present on Snowden Road when the crash occured, the force said.
Following the incident, tensions rose which culminated in a riot and saw missiles and fireworks thrown at police while cars were set alight. OPC director David Ford said: “First and foremost our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families and friends of the two boys who sadly lost their lives on Monday evening in Ely.
“It is important that we independently investigate the circumstances leading up to this tragic event.” The police and crime commissioner for South Wales, Alun Michael, said he had been “assured and I am still assured youths were not being chased by the police at the time of the road traffic accident”.
In the aftermath of the collision, Mr Michael gave interviews in which he said there were “rumours” of a police chase, “which wasn’t the case”.
On Wednesday, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Information emerged after we had done the interview which has to be investigated, and the question has to be asked of whether there is a connection between earlier events and the road traffic accident itself. We have to look at the facts of what actually happened on Monday. I am assured and I am still assured youths were not being chased by the police at the time of the road traffic accident.
“I was assured there was not… police chasing the individuals at the time the accident happened. That there may have been something earlier is of course something that should be fully investigated.”
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