Met warned over failure to train staff after moped driver, 18, died in pursuit

A teenage moped driver’s death while being pursued by an unqualified officer showed the Metropolitan Police had failed to train its staff “effectively”, a coroner has warned.

Lewis Johnson, 18, died after hitting a traffic light pole while carrying a pillion passenger in Clapton Common, east London, on February 9 2016, as both individuals tried to evade arrest for allegedly committing phone thefts.

A Met police vehicle chased Mr Johnson for more than three minutes before the collision occurred, but had been following “too closely at times” which put him under additional pressure and affected his decision making, a jury at an inquest into his death found.

The driver of the vehicle also did not have the qualification required by the force’s policy at the time to engage in the pursuit of motorbikes, but the chase still took place because of “a lack of knowledge” among the driver, vehicle operator and Met control room staff and “a lack of adequate communication” of the policies.

The jury also found that opportunities to reduce the risk to Mr Johnson and the public by the driver in the pursuit were missed.

Mary Hassell, senior coroner for Inner North London, echoed the jury’s conclusion that there was a failure by the Met “to implement, disseminate and train relevant staff on relevant policies effectively” and warned action should be taken to prevent future deaths.

She said: “It seemed to me from the evidence in court that there was not a consistent expectation among police officers of how long it generally takes a police controller to make a decision on authorisation of a pursuit.

“Whilst I do not suggest there should be a time limit on this, it would seem helpful if the expectation of the timing of police control decision-making were to be roughly aligned between those making the decisions (in the police control room) and those waiting for the decisions (in police cars involved in the pursuits).”

Mr Johnson’s medical cause of death was given as blunt abdominal trauma with an aortic rupture.

Copies of the coroner’s prevention of future deaths report were sent to the Met Commissioner, Mr Johnson’s mother, the Independent Office for Police Conduct director general and the chief coroner of England and Wales.

Pc Paul Summerson was found not guilty of causing Mr Johnson’s death by dangerous driving in October 2021 following a trial at Kingston Crown Court.

He was also cleared of causing serious injury by dangerous driving his passenger, Louis Kyriacou.