The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has released a statement confirming that it has decided that no further action should be taken against Prince Philip after he was involved in a collision on the A149 at Sandringham.
Chris Long, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East of England, said:
“The CPS has carefully reviewed material submitted by the police in relation to a traffic collision on the A149 on 17 January this year.
“We took into account all of the circumstances in this case, including the level of culpability, the age of the driver and the surrender of the driving licence.
“We have decided that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute.
“All those involved in the collision have been informed and provided with a full explanation in writing.”
The decision was made by the CPS after considering all the evidence submitted by the police and in accordance with the
A spokesperson for the CPS added:
‘Any decision by the CPS does not imply any finding concerning guilt or criminal conduct; the CPS makes decisions only according to the test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors and it is applied in all decisions on whether or not to prosecute’.
Prince Philip has apologised for his part in an accident on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk on 17 January, when his Land Rover Freelander collided with a Kia carrying two women and a baby.
The driver of the Kia, 28, suffered cuts to her knee while the passenger, a 46-year-old woman, sustained a broken wrist.
Both required hospital treatment but a nine-month-old baby boy was uninjured.
A statement released by the CPS confirmed:
‘It is not the function of the CPS to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider.
‘The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct.
‘It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
‘This assessment is based on the evidence available arising out of the police investigation and not on the evidence that is likely to be gathered by the defence, and likely to be used to test the prosecution evidence.
‘The CPS charging decision is therefore necessarily an assessment on the basis of the evidence that is available to the CPS at the time the decision is made.
‘If the CPS finds that a case passes the evidential test, it then assesses public interest.
‘This is based on a variety of factors, including the level of culpability, the harm
‘For a prosecution to take place, prosecutors must be satisfied
‘CPS prosecutors must also keep every case under review, so that they take account of any change in circumstances that occurs as the case develops, including what becomes known of the defence case.
‘If appropriate, the CPS may change the charges or stop a case’.
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