Daughter wants new probe of Bedworth mobility scooter crash

Kerry Smith said she wants the death of her mother to be reinvestigated

The daughter of a woman who died after being hit by a police car while on a mobility scooter wants the investigation reopened.

Jessie Whitehead was struck by a marked Warwickshire Police car in Bedworth on 23 January 2019.

An investigation by the police watchdog concluded the police officer "could not have avoided" the fatal collision.

Kerry Smith said her solicitors' own probe showed more data from before the crash should have been analysed.

They said an independent collisions investigator acting for the family had found evidence presented to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was taken "too late in the incident to fully assess the officer's driving and response".

"All I want to know is the truth from what happened that day and I haven't got that yet," Ms Smith said.

"I still see the accident every night when I try to go to sleep. I haven't had time to grieve yet, I'm still fighting."

Jessie Whitehead died in hospital after being struck by the police car

Mrs Whitehead, 74, was crossing Coventry Road on her scooter when she was hit and later died in hospital.

An inquest jury returned a conclusion of misadventure into the death after hearing a friend she was with had said it was not safe to cross.

The IOPC said the vehicle was travelling at an "appropriate speed" for the call - around 65mph on the 50mph limit carriageway to a report of an oil leak from a broken-down crane - before the officer braked.

The original investigation had heard the officer braked when she was 50m from Mrs Whitehead, and 2.3 seconds away.

But according to the family, their independent analyst said the car's telematics records showed the officer had released the throttle 4.6 seconds before the collision - more than 115m from where she was crossing.

"It was the expert's opinion that, had (the officer) braked at this point, she again would have avoided the collision," solicitor Terry Willcox, of Hudgell, said.

Solicitor Terry Wilcox said their investigation found new evidence about the collision

Mr Wilcox said their inquiry showed there was a momentary hesitation by the vehicle seconds before the data which was analysed by the IOPC.

"We say that is when the police driver witnessed the victim entering the roadway. Had that detail been added to the analysis, we conclude that this incident would not have occurred. The police investigation didn't take that into account," he said.

Warwickshire Police said it "fully cooperated with the independent investigation by the IOPC that found no wrongdoing on behalf of our officer".

"She was a fully trained and skilled police response driver and was driving within the legal exemptions of the highway code afforded to someone with such qualifications," it added.

A financial settlement with the family was made "as a gesture of goodwill", added the force.

The watchdog said it would wait for direct contact from Mrs Smith's solicitors before deciding if it would take further action.