Spennymoor police pursuit death driver had vendetta, mum says

Kelvin Bainbridge had 45 criminal convictions, the inquest heard

The mother of a teenager who died in a police pursuit has told an inquest the officer involved had a vendetta against her son.

Kelvin Bainbridge, 19, was hit by a marked police car driven by PC Paul Jackson in Spennymoor, County Durham, in October 2019.

Suzanne Bainbridge told the inquest in Crook she felt like PC Jackson "was never away from my house".

Durham Police's barrister said the officer only arrested her son once.

The inquest heard the teenager had 45 criminal convictions.

He had been in trouble with police for stealing cars and criminal damage since he was 13 and had been before the courts for sentencing 16 times.

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

Mrs Bainbridge said that in early 2018, a group of six or seven officers including PC Jackson had pushed their way into her home while looking for her son.

"I felt that we were a target as well as Kelvin," she told the inquest.

"It was aggressive and I got aggressive back."

She said PC Jackson was also at her house in August 2019, with other officers, looking for her son.

"I felt like he was never away from my house," she said.

Asked if she would describe it as a "vendetta", Mrs Bainbridge agreed.

But Durham Police's barrister John Beggs KC challenged this, saying PC Jackson only arrested her son once, nearly two years before the pursuit.

"That doesn't sound like a vendetta," he told the inquest.

Kelvin Bainbridge was hit by a marked police car

Mrs Bainbridge said she was in the car with her son on 18 October 2019, returning from hospital where his partner had just had a 28-week pregnancy scan.

She told the inquest she was aware he had not passed a driving test and was wanted by the police.

The inquest previously heard that, during the subsequent police pursuit, the 19-year-old had hit a wall at "low speed" and then got out of the car he was driving while it was still moving.

Crash investigator Robin Turner told the inquest PC Jackson did "not have enough time to react" before hitting the teenager.

The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service which, in October 2021, decided not to authorise any further action against PC Jackson.

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