Police officer cleared over crash deaths in high-speed chase will keep his job

A Metropolitan Police officer has been allowed to keep his job, eight years after he was involved in a high-speed car chase in which a 10-year-old boy and his aunt were killed.

A disciplinary panel told Pc Edward Welch who was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving in December 2022, that his actions during the chase amounted to gross misconduct. But it chose to give him a final written warning.

Pc Welch was in pursuit of a teenage drug addict driving a stolen Ford Focus when the tragedy happened in August 2016.

Joshua Dobby, who admitted he was coming down from smoking crack cocaine and heroin, hit speeds of more than 60mph and drove the wrong way down a one-way street in south east London before mounting the pavement and ploughing into a group of pedestrians.

Makayah McDermott, 10, and his aunt Rozanne Cooper, 34, were killed, and three other children were injured.

Dobby was later jailed for 12 years after admitting two counts of manslaughter. But in 2021, Pc Welch was also charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey in December 2022, he was found not guilty of all charges, but was then told he would have to face a gross misconduct hearing.

The disciplinary panel heard he had failed to accurately assess the level of risk that the pursuit posed and did not report this risk back to the control room via radio.

It was told that after the collision, Pc Welsh and his colleague, Pc Jack Keher, chased Dobby on foot rather than checking whether anyone was injured and offering first aid at the scene.

After hearing the evidence, the panel – led by a legally qualified chairman – found the actions of both officers had amounted to gross misconduct.

Pc Welch was given a final written warning, while Mr Keher has already left the Metropolitan Police so cannot be sanctioned.

Mel Palmer, of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, said: “Our thoughts remain with the families of Makayah and Rozanne who sadly lost their lives and to everyone affected by this incident.

“Officers must assess the risks before engaging in a pursuit and continually reassess this throughout. Any pursuit must be proportionate and factor in the surrounding circumstances, including the public safety risk.

Actions ‘not proportionate or justified’

“We found that the officers’ actions in pursuing a stolen car at up to three times the speed limit in an area busy with traffic and pedestrians during the school holidays, was not proportionate or justified given the apparent safety risk to the public.

“The officers also failed in their duty of care to protect lives following the collision by chasing the offender rather than immediately going to the aid of the victims.”

At his sentencing hearing, Dobby admitted he had been coming down from drugs when he killed Ms Cooper and Makayah.

He had been on his way to sell the stolen car for £300 to buy more drugs, the court heard.

He had 53 previous convictions dating back to the age of 13, including a conviction for aggravated vehicle taking, having crashed a car into railings with police in pursuit when he was just 16.

Just five days before the crash, police had abandoned a pursuit of the same Focus because it was judged too dangerous.

Dobby, who never has never been able to drive legally, was on licence from an 18-week prison sentence for handling stolen goods at the time of the crash.