Caution urged over death of man hit by police car

The police watchdog investigating the death of a pedestrian hit by a police car has said that contrary to social media reports, he was not using a crossing at the time nor wearing earphones.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is probing events in Birmingham leading up to the vehicle striking the 40-year-old - named on Monday as father-of-two Roger Bagnall.

He was hit on Yardley Road in Acocks Green at about 19:00 GMT on Wednesday by a double-crewed West Midlands Police car which, the IOPC confirmed, was travelling on blue lights and siren.

It stated that investigations were continuing, and urged the public not to speculate over the events, as doing so could be "unhelpful".

The officers involved were being treated as witnesses, the IOPC said.

"Our role is to independently investigate the involvement of police in this collision to establish all the circumstances surrounding it," IOPC director Derek Campbell explained.

"That will include looking at any actions taken by the officers and whether those followed policy and procedure."

The IOPC said the police car was responding last week to reports that a man had been seen carrying knives nearby.

Reviews of CCTV had already established some circumstances such as the car being on lights, said Mr Campbell, thanking members of the public for coming forward with footage.

But he added: "We would urge people not to speculate, which can be unhelpful and cause unnecessary distress."

Mr Bagnall's family was being supported, and also updated on the investigation's progress, Mr Campbell said.

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