A jury has cleared a Met Police officer of causing death by dangerous driving. The jury returned their verdict after just one hour of deliberation.
18-year-old Lewis Johnson died after the motorcycle he was driving crashed during a pursuit in east London on 9th February 2016.
PC Paul Summerson had initiated the pursuit after Johnson and his accomplice had been allegedly spotted trying to steal a bag from a lone female in east London.
His passenger, Louis Kyriacou, who was aged 19 at the time, was also seriously injured.
PC Summerson, who was driving a marked police BMW 5 Series, indicated for Johnson to stop, but he failed to do so.
In his attempt to evade the police, Johnson drove in and out of traffic at high speed and on the wrong side of the road for around four minutes. As Johnson undertook a van, it moved to the left to make way for the police car that was ready to pass it on its off-side.
It was at this point that Johnson tried to avoid the van and ended up hitting some street furniture. He died at the scene.
The Crown Prosecution Service had initially decided not to charge PC Summerson with any offences arising from the incident.
But Lewis’ mother, Ann, 49, sought a judicial review against the decision by the CPS not to charge the officer.
High Court judges intervened and quashed the decision of a reviewing CPS lawyer not to prosecute the officer.
The case file was then re-submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions for a review decision to be made by a different lawyer.
Following that review, PC Summerson was charged last year (2020)
But today, Tuesday 12th October, PC Summerson was cleared by a jury at Kingston Crown Court of causing death by dangerous driving.
The pursuit followed a series of mobile phone thefts in the area, and jurors were shown CCTV in which Johnson and his passenger reached toward a lone woman at 11.11 am that day.
During the trial, prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford QC told the jury: ‘This case is about the standard of the defendant’s driving and whether or not it caused the collision that resulted in the death of Louis Johnson and the serious injury of Louis Kyriacou’.
Mr Sandiford asked the jury to consider ‘whether the defendant’s driving was dangerous at any time during that pursuit that lasted about four minutes on that morning,’ adding: ‘It doesn’t matter that the defendant was a police driver and he had training’.
PC Summerson maintained that he had held back at a ‘safe distance’ during the pursuit. At no time did PC Summerson’s marked police vehicle make contact with Johnson or his moped.
Summerson, of Colchester, Essex, denied and was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
During the trial, the jury heard several statements from PC Summerson’s colleagues and friends, who referred to him as hardworking, professional, and dedicated to his job as a police officer
The news comes less than 24 hours after two Met Police firearms officers were cleared of any wrongdoing after the CPS offered ‘no evidence’ on the first day of their trial.
One officer, identified as NX1, was charged with wounding with intent, while the second, identified as MY55, was charged with attempted wounding with intent.
The Crown Prosecution Service charged the two officers following a referral of evidence from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigated the shooting.
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I hope the officer who was performing his duty on behalf of us all can get some peace. Having to go through this nightmare shouod never happen, i am sorfy for the offenders death but he should know right from wrong stealing is wrong.
So let me get this right 2 cowards who were praying on a lone female. And for a moment I don’t think this would have been the first time, (Was the bike theirs by the way.)
For personal financial gain, decided to run from police when they were spotted and crashed killing one of them.
Did they care about members of the public whilst they were trying to imitate GTA.
Did they care about the impact this would have on the victim, did they care about their own families by acting in the way they did.
They have deprived a mother of her son a family of their brother.
But the mother blames the Police for trying to protect the innocent.
Wonder if it was her that was being robbed if she would blame the police for not going after the criminals.
Its tragic ‘YES’ but don’t blame the police. Blame your son for not caring enough about you.
For if he had. He would not have risked his life stealing from innocent people.
Just saying.
Doesn’t intend to for it to be become a conversation.
A thief, possibly prolific, is dead and his accomplice seriously injured. The dead one is good news. I am not in the least bit sorry he died and I care even less about his mother’s grief. He was preying on the innocent in the first place and then purring many other innocents at considerable risk due to his crazy driving. As for his mate, he will have cost the nation a ton of money to put back together and nothing appears to have been done about him. Even if something is done, it will cost the country a fortune. Had he too died, it would have been nice and cheap to get rid of two criminals. I wish the police were instructed to knock these scumbags of their motorbikes in order to stop them.
We must recognise that they were committing crime, no ifs or buts in this instance, made off and defied the police and had the driver been a bit more competent, might have made a complete getaway to continue preying far into the future.
If we had a halfway competent judiciary, people like this would get locked up up their first conviction, not as a punishment but simply to clear vermin off the streets. That the judges allowed this case to proceed is a disgrace. For once, the CPS did a proper job in not pursuing the matter. I very much hope that costs were awarded against the plaintiff for bringing a vexatious case, but this seems highly doubtful. Meanwhile, if the survivor is not a British citizen, he should be deported back to his country of birth taking any dependents with him. st get him well enlough to travel and then let his own country pay for any further treatrment.