The parents of a 16-year-old boy killed in a horror crash in Tameside say their family has been torn apart by his death and their quest for answers.
Shae Marlow was killed after the grey Volkswagen Golf ploughed into a stone gatepost on Wakefield Road in Stalybridge on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
He experienced several serious injuries and died at the scene and on Friday an inquest jury discovered the presence of police, who had accelerated to behind the Golf minutes before the crash, "most likely" contributed to the way he drove before fatally colliding.
The week-long inquest into his death revealed that just before the crash, officers had responded to reports of a suspected break-in in the area, when one patrol car saw the Golf being driven by Shae, who promptly accelerated away.
However, the hearing heard that the first officer to arrive at the scene of the alleged break-in, PC Briggs, told the inquest his subsuquent investigations had found there was "no evidence of anything untoward" in the area.
Following his death, Shae's father says he had seen comments saying his son "deserved what happened", after GMP said they had been in the area because of the alleged break-in.
But, after months of disputing any links between his son and the alleged burglary, Mr Marlow said that the disclosure in open court that there had been no burglary was a huge relief for the family, who felt "vindicated" by it.
"That was a massive thing for me," he told the Manchester Evening News, following the conclusion of Shae's inquest.
"It has been two years fighting for this. It [the alleged burglary] blackened his name and we've had comments from people saying he deserved what happened which hurt beyond belief. My son wasn't a burglar. There was no burglary.
"All he was guilty of was driving under age. He did make a mistake getting into that car, we own that. But he was 16. He has seen the police and he has panicked."
Police arrived at scene four minutes after 'inexplicable' crash
The inquest heard that shortly before the crash, officers in a police car - who were responding to the reports of the suspected break-in - came across the Golf being driven by Shae and accelerated behind it in order to get a look at its registration plate.
However, the three Greater Manchester Police (GMP) PCs inside the car said the Golf then accelerated away and began overtaking another vehicle.
PC El-Hage, the officer driving, said that as he believed it was 'making off' and as he was not trained or authorised to carry out vehicle pursuits, he brought the marked police car to a stop.
PC El-Hage said after radioing details of the incident and "handing it over" to another division, he then activated the car's lights and sirens and turned off Wakefield Road and onto Printworks Road, as it was an area where cars were sometimes abandoned.
After finding nothing there, he and his two colleagues said they accepted a request for help with an incident in Stalybridge town centre and he said he re-activated his lights and sirens as they made their way to assist.
But, after re-entering Wakefield Road, they said they were "flagged down" by motorists alerting them to the fatal crash involving Shae.
The police car arrived at the crash scene four minutes and 10 seconds after the collision and from the opposite direction, the court heard.
Giving evidence, Brian Orr from GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, confirmed he was satisfied that PC El-Hage "didn't attempt to pursue the Golf in a technical sense of the word."
However, he said he believed Shae would have acknowledged the presence of the police car.
And when asked by Arena Coroner Christopher Morris: "You wouldn't expect a 16-year-old who shouldn't have been driving to know whether a police car was pursuing him or not?" Mr Orr replied:"Correct."
The court heard from forensic crash investigators that the Golf driven by Shae was travelling at between 52 and 58 mph immediately prior to the collision.
An eyewitness, David Curran, said it left the road and struck the gatepost immediately after overtaking him. "It snapped to the left and just drove straight into the wall. It was inexplicable. I thought he had made it."
Mr Orr said he believed Shae had "over compensated' and 'put too much left-hand steering in" as he moved back across which had caused the car to rotate before crashing.
Today (Friday) the jury recorded that Shae died as a result of a road traffic collision.
Their findings, read by the jury's foreman, stated: "Shae John James Marlow died on November 3, 2020 on Wakefield Road, Stalybridge as a consequence of multiple injuries sustained when the Volkswagen Golf he was driving left the carrigeway and collided with a gatepost.
"The motor vehicle was travelling at high speed in dark, damp conditions when Mr Marlow lost control of the vehicle after completing an overtaking manouvre. Police presence most likely influenced Mr Marlow's decision to drive at high speed."
Dad speaks of Shae's family's heartbreak
Following the hearing, Shae's father Malcolm Marlow told the Manchester Evening News how his son's shock death had so deeply affected all of Shae's loved ones.
"He was a brilliant lad, everyone loved him," he said. "He was so kind, if he had old trainers or something he would take them in for other people at school. You should have seen his funeral, there was so many it was like he was a celebrity or something.
"Every single day we think about what happened and every single day it hurts. It's ripped our lives and our family apart, to this day it has."
After being denied legal aid, Mr Marlow and Shae's mum Katherine McGoff were forced to represent themselves at the hearing, with the help of Shae's auntie Kizzy Ibbetson. Mr Marlow said the inquest process had been a 'horrible experience' for them all.
However, he said as a family they welcomed the jury's findings and in many ways felt 'vindicated' after the police told the hearing there was no break-in in the area.
"I didn't think we'd get this," he said. "But this is a happy day."
"We are so pleased," added Mrs McGoff.
In a statement released following the hearing on Friday evening, GMP said: "“Our thoughts remain with Shae Marlow who sadly lost his life in this collision, along with his friends and family who have been left understandably devastated.
“We acknowledge the jury's conclusion.”
