A Met Police officer has been sentenced for causing death by careless driving
(Picture: Getty Images)A Metropolitan Police officer ran over and killed an inspirational charity worker while chasing a suspect without his lights and siren on, a court has heard.
PC Daniel Francis, 33, accelerated his marked police vehicle to 61mph in a bid to catch up with a car after seeing a firework thrown out of the window.
When two pedestrians, including 23-year-old Andrew Brown, stepped on to a crossing ahead of the police vehicle, the officer slammed on his brakes and swerved but was travelling too fast to stop in time.
The Old Bailey heard Mr Brown, who was just two months into a job at the Ministry of Defence, was hit by the windscreen of the police car and suffered a head injury from which he later died in hospital. The other man was also hit by the police car but escaped serious injury.
Mr Justice Hilliard sentenced Francis to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, saying of the victim: “We are all the poorer for his passing.”
“He had his adult life ahead of him, it was a life of talent and promise in which he would, I’m sure, have contributed much to others.”
Francis, who now faces police disciplinary proceedings and possible sacking, was ordered to complete 240 hours of community service, 20 days of rehab, pay £500 in costs, and he will be under a 6pm to 8am curfew for the next four months.
The PC, who is also banned from driving for the next 18 months, broke down in tears as the sentence was passed.
Mr Brown’s mother, Isabel Brown, told the court how her son, an earth sciences graduate from the University of Glasgow and former Vice-President of the Queen Margaret Union, had worked with special needs children in America and had ambitions of taking a job dealing with national disasters.
“Andrew was full of life and ambitious, and he has been denied a future, opportunities, and experiences”, she said.
“He was a unique combination of clever, kind, and incredibly artistic.”
She added: “We will miss him forever and we will forever be heartbroken.”
Prosecutor Michael Shaw said Francis and two colleagues had agreed to work overtime on November 1, 2019 when the crash happened on Whitton Road in Hounslow.
“The officers observed a firework being thrown from a dark-coloured vehicle. A black Nissan drove away from the scene at speed”, he said.
“PC Francis accelerated the police car after the Nissan – to not alert the occupant of the offending vehicle and invoke a chase, he made the decision not to activate his blue lights and sirens.”
Mr Brown and the other man had just got off a train at Hounslow station and walked on to the pedestrian crossing as the police car approached.
“PC Francis saw them and applied the vehicle’s brakes at the same time, and attempted to swerve to avoid the pedestrians”, said Mr Shaw.
“Given the speed, the police vehicle struck both men, causing Mr Brown injuries from which he sadly died.”
He added that an investigator of the crash concluded “it’s very difficult for pedestrians at night to judge the speed of vehicle headlights approaching them, as there are limited points of reference as headlights come towards them.”
Edmund Gritt, representing Francis, said the officer accepts he should have cut his speed or engaged his blue lights and siren in the moments before the crash.
“He is so sorry for causing the death”, he said. “He does not expect his apology will make the impact of his actions any easier for Mr Brown’s family, but he wants to make that apology through me.
“PC Francis became a police officer in order to protect people, to protect the public, and on November 1, 2019 he followed the Nissan in accordance with his duty as a police officer to protect the public. That’s what he was trying to achieve but what he brought about in a matter of a few seconds was the complete opposite.”
The court heard Francis, who became a PCSO in 2008 and a PC five years later, has been on desk duties since the crash.
The criminal prosecution was brought after a protracted investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Francis, who lives in Tongham, Surrey, pleaded guilty in December to causing death by careless driving.
Police officers have an exemption from the speed limits when driving a service vehicle, but the decision to not activate his lights and sirens meant he was held liable from Mr Brown’s death.
