Northants police acted appropriately before fatal crash - IOPC

The crash happened on the A45 near Thrapston

The police watchdog has found officers acted appropriately when responding to concerns about a man who died in a car crash later on the same day.

Both Mark Meagan and a lorry driver were killed on the A45 near Thrapston, Northamptonshire, in March 2023.

Inquests into their deaths found that Mr Meagan took his own life and the other driver was unlawfully killed.

The watchdog found "no indication anyone behaved in a manner that would justify any disciplinary proceedings".

Northamptonshire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following the crash on the afternoon of 1 March 2023.

The IOPC sent investigators to the scene of the incident, reviewed dashcam footage and interviewed police officers.

They found that concerns had been raised about Mr Meagan's welfare on the morning of 1 March and officers went to his house, but he was not at home.

He was then treated as a high-risk missing person and officers were sent to look for him.

The IOPC said the police became aware that he had told a family member he intended to kill himself.

Just before 13:00 GMT, an officer spoke to him on his mobile phone and he said he would "ram any police car that tried to stop him".

Police officers arrived at the scene of the fatal collision at 13:05 GMT.

The IOPC said dashcam footage from the first police car to arrive at the scene showed it came from the opposite direction Mr Meagan was travelling in and about three minutes after the crash.

Other footage showed Mr Meagan's car cross the road into oncoming traffic and collide with the HGV.

The Northamptonshire coroner recorded that Mr Meagan took his own life and Mr Straker was unlawfully killed

IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell said: "The evidence suggests the police staff and officers involved all made a conscious effort in trying to locate Mr Meagan and were proactive in following lines of inquiry, in accordance with the force's missing person's policy and national guidance.

"The investigation treated police officers as witnesses throughout and found no indication anyone behaved in a manner that would justify any disciplinary proceedings."

Inquests on Monday recorded that Mr Meagan, 50, took his own life and that the other driver, Paul Straker from Hertfordshire, who was 42, was unlawfully killed.

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