Spennymoor police pursuit driver 'had no time to react', inquest hears

Kelvin Bainbridge was hit by a marked police car

A police driver did "not have enough time to react" before hitting a teenage driver who leapt out of his car during a pursuit, an inquest has heard.

Kelvin Bainbridge, 19, was hit by a marked police vehicle in Spennymoor, County Durham, in October 2019.

Crash investigator Robin Turner told the inquest the car Mr Bainbridge was driving hit a wall at "low speed" and was still moving when he got out.

He said the police driver had between 0.52 and 0.92 seconds to react.

"There was not enough time to react, I would say," Mr Turner told the inquest.

The inquest heard Mr Bainbridge stumbled as he got out of the car.

The near-side rear tyre was completely deflated, added Mr Turner. He said this must have happened "quite recently" and was likely to have been caused by an "earlier collision".

He said the police car pursuing him had been in the force workshop two days previously and its brakes were "good".

At the time of his death, Mr Bainbridge was a disqualified driver and was wanted in connection with burglary offences

The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which, in October 2021, decided not to authorise any further action against the Durham police officer involved in the pursuit.

The first day of the inquest into Mr Bainbridge's death, on Monday, heard that his mother, who was a passenger in the Nissan Primera during the six-minute pursuit, had begged her son to slow down.

Kelvin Bainbridge swam, ran, played football and practised judo

Mr Bainbridge had been disqualified from driving at the time and was wanted by the police in connection with burglary offences.

A post-mortem examination found he had died of a blunt head injury and his injuries were consistent with him "almost lying down" when he was struck by the police car.

The inquest, which is expected to last up to three weeks, continues.