Coroner scorns police after 124mph biker death
Metropolitan police to review motorcycle pursuit tactics after coroner's criticism over chase that led to the death of a biker
MET POLICE are launching a review of their motorcycle pursuits after a coroner criticised police following a 124mph chase which ended in the death of a 24-year old man.
The victim, Lexy Williams, 24, was chased by police who thought he was riding a stolen motorcycle. The motorcycle did infact belong to Williams, however he did not have a licence. Williams'motorcycle hit the central reservation after a 10-mile chase on the A406 North Circular Road in Golders Green on 22 January 2007, where he reached speeds of over 120mph. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pc Darren Baxter led the chase. The inquest revealed a series of errors by the police, including insufficient training and poor judgement. The ambulance was also obstructed on its route to the accident after police closed the road leading to the accident. Pc Baxter said the pursuit was under controlled circumstances and he did not put other drivers at risk.
According to the coroner, the pursuit should not have continued once it was clear that air support was not unavailable. The coroner also added that the police offiers involved should have better communicated the urgency of the biker's injuries as this would have led to an increased chance of his survival.
Discuss this story
Gee, maybe he shouldn't have been running from the police Maybe he shouldn't have been riding without a licence.
maybe it's because he's a londoner............
Posted: 27/04/2009 at 18:12
Gee, maybe he shouldn't have been running from the police Maybe he shouldn't have been riding without a licence.
maybe it's because he's a londoner............
....that E larves Landan tan......
Posted: 27/04/2009 at 19:22
"The victim, Lexy Williams, 24" Victim!?!? He was a criminal running from the police.
Posted: 28/04/2009 at 12:37
Well yes, Police have a job to do, and he should have had a license..... We all have to pass our test and buy insurance so why not he? Had he knicked it? we are talking London here......Lets face it if we're being law abiding chappies then why run away from the police........ If it were my bike that was nicked and someone was doing a runner i'd expect the police to shoot the fucker......I feel sorry for the chap whose bike it was if he did knick it, seems rather odd? Farkin London mate innit Know what I mean harry......
Posted: 29/04/2009 at 02:01
PS....
If at all he was a thieving scum bag pikey bastard incestuous child molesting fuck pig then fuck the ambulance....................  fuckin' a'
Posted: 29/04/2009 at 02:03
Angry dogs chase you. Cops just follow you, with an intention to use the process of the law. If they're getting closer and you go faster and faster until you kill yourself, it's your own fault.
Posted: 29/04/2009 at 09:39
The majority of the blame lies with the rider but the police are also to blame, as the coroner stated "the pursuit should not have continued after it became clear air support was available". Also the poor communication, poor judgement and lack of training cannot be blamed on the rider and as for delaying the ambulance that is inexcusable.
Slight correction. Air support was not available, the Coronor stated it should not have carried on after it was found that air support was NOT available.
However, as a course of action air support does not negate the use of units on the ground. The ground units just fall back to take the pressure off but still stay in touch with the pursuit for the inevitable abandonment. However, the helos are grounded so much that if every pursuit was called off due to a lack of air support then no fleeing crims would ever be caught. The unfortunate fact is that the Police in the UK have a policy of Policing by consent as opposed the to US way of Law enforcement. And look at their pursuits. Hard stop tactics with guns drawn and frequently involving spectacular crashes. No one bats an eyelid. Why? Because the fucker shouldn't have ran in the first place, that's why. And breath!
Posted: 29/04/2009 at 15:20
Police chase review after 124mph biker death? I can understand why they stopped chasing the biker after he died, but why are they chasing a review?
Posted: 29/04/2009 at 15:24
I think general policy is that high speed police pursuits of bikers are just too risky to be worth doing, the law's hardly being enacted if someone ends up dieing while in pursuit (we don't have a death penalty in this country). They should have backed off and sent a chopper which could easily have followed the bike until it stopped then sent in a patrol car to arrest him. Just irresponsible policing really.
Posted: 06/09/2009 at 10:52
I see that you have managed to back off and let the heat die down before posting although 4 months seems a bit of a slow response..of course it might help if in that 4 months you actually read the thread and the reported comments that chopper wasn't available as for it being irresponsible, matter of opinion....I see that the cop didn't crash, just the bloke that thought he could outrun them....own goal...
Posted: 06/09/2009 at 19:31
"The victim, Lexy Williams, 24" Victim!?!? He was a criminal running from the police.
So your a crim because you dont have a licence....I was one for years then...about 10yrs ago... Angry dogs chase you. Cops just follow you, with an intention to use the process of the law. If they're getting closer and you go faster and faster until you kill yourself, it's your own fault.
+1
Posted: 06/09/2009 at 20:00
Hate re-visiting old threads when they get bounced but ... and the reported comments that chopper wasn't available According to the coroner, the pursuit should not have continued once it was clear that air support was not unavailable I know it's probably meant to say it was unavailable but it doesn't  which could just be bad reporting editing
Posted: 06/09/2009 at 21:56
It was bad reporting and it is corected in a later post... The majority of the blame lies with the rider but the police are also to blame, as the coroner stated "the pursuit should not have continued after it became clear air support was available". Also the poor communication, poor judgement and lack of training cannot be blamed on the rider and as for delaying the ambulance that is inexcusable.
Slight correction. Air support was not available, the Coronor stated it should not have carried on after it was found that air support was NOT available.
However, as a course of action air support does not negate the use of units on the ground. The ground units just fall back to take the pressure off but still stay in touch with the pursuit for the inevitable abandonment. However, the helos are grounded so much that if every pursuit was called off due to a lack of air support then no fleeing crims would ever be caught. The unfortunate fact is that the Police in the UK have a policy of Policing by consent as opposed the to US way of Law enforcement. And look at their pursuits. Hard stop tactics with guns drawn and frequently involving spectacular crashes. No one bats an eyelid. Why? Because the fucker shouldn't have ran in the first place, that's why. And breath!
Posted: 07/09/2009 at 08:53
Didn't realise how old this post was, just reading the article, actually says that air assistance wasn't unavailable, thought it was a bit of an odd way of wording it. Suggests to me that it may well have been available, this however doesn't necessarily mean that it's near enough to be used.
Posted: 07/09/2009 at 10:02
"however he did not have a licence." That's when I ran out of sympathy for Mr. Williams. As Hudson suggests just above, it's unlikely the 'victim' would be giving much back to the gene pool
Posted: 09/09/2009 at 17:50
Hope the coroner got his car nicked after the hearing and the police fail to chase it cause it might go over the speed limit. They think the review is on a stolen bike... How fast exactly was this plagiarised review travelling on the stolen bike?
thanks for that,c an you post some more in another two years ??
Posted: 09/08/2011 at 21:23
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