Aston McLean Williams death: Police car barrier 'not justified'

Aston McLean was chased by police who were responding to a burglary in Reading

A police officer who was driving a car which hit and killed a burglary suspect did so without justification, a disciplinary hearing has been told.

Aston McLean Williams died in Wokingham Road, Reading, after a PC used an armed response vehicle as a "mobile barrier".

An expert witness told a police disciplinary hearing: "There are no tactics in the driver training manual for this at all."

Two police officers are accused of gross misconduct.

Police said father-of-two Mr Williams, 28, was one of two men suspected of trying to break into a bike shop in Eastern Avenue in the early hours of 6 August 2014.

Later Mr Williams was seen being restrained with pepper spray by an officer known only as PC "P", shortly before being hit by a marked police car driven by PC "N", a meeting live-streamed to Ascot Police Station heard.

Mr Williams died in August 2014 after being hit by a police car in Wokingham Road

The hearing was shown CCTV which showed the moment Mr Williams was killed.

Gareth Morgan, a former police driver training standards manager, was asked about the driver's claim that he was using the vehicle as a mobile barrier.

Mr Morgan said: "I can't see the justification for this. There are no tactics in the driver training manual for this at all.

"I think the officer is struggling on this one."

He added that the only time a vehicle might be used in this way was to stop a stolen car rather than a pedestrian.

The hearing has ordered that the officers should not be named.

The misconduct hearing, which was scheduled to last five days, continues.