St Albans widow 'let down' by Bedfordshire Police crash investigation

The widow of a motorcyclist says she feels "completely let down" by a police investigation into her husband's death after a coroner criticised the case.

David Fudge, 66, was killed in a crash with a driver doing a U-turn in Bedfordshire in November 2018.

A coroner rejected police conclusions about the crash and said she could "understand" wife Claire Montgomery's dissatisfaction at the investigation.

Police said they were "satisfied" their probe met the "required standards".

In an inquest into Mr Fudge's death in August, Emma Whitting, senior coroner for Bedfordshire, said he was riding with fellow motorcycle club members on 18 November 2018 when the crash happened on the A4146 near Billington, Leighton Buzzard.

The retired engineer, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, was travelling south but moved into a northbound lane to overtake vehicles. Further ahead, a car had pulled on to a track off the southbound carriageway after taking a wrong turn at a roundabout.

As the driver crossed the southbound lane to join the northbound side of the road, the car hit Mr Fudge and he was declared dead at the scene.

His widow, Ms Montgomery, said after the crash she was told by a family liaison officer: "This is a clear-cut case of dangerous driving - you'll get justice for your husband."

However, she said the elderly driver of the car was deemed not fit to be interviewed until June 2019 - seven months after the crash.

She was then told four months later that there would be no further action against the driver.

Ms Montgomery said an officer had told Mr Fudge's family "if it wasn't for the fact he was killed they would have been interviewing him as well".

"I want to know why we've gone from death by dangerous driving, to death by careless driving, to no further action, to now apportioning blame on to my husband," she said.

In her summing up, Ms Whitting said she could "understand why Mr Fudge's family have been unsatisfied by the police investigation".

She pointed at factors including the lack of coverage in interview over whether a lead motorcyclist in Mr Fudge's group might have alerted the car driver to the possible presence of more riders.

The coroner added: "The fact that he had not apparently checked his blind spot was not referred to at all."

Ms Whitting rejected the police conclusion that the crash "was simply caused by neither the driver nor Mr Fudge seeing the other when making the decision to carry out their manoeuvres".

"In my view... the collision occurred when the driver of the Hyundai turned into the path of Mr Fudge," she said.

Following the inquest, the case was reviewed by police and Ms Montgomery was told it would not be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Ms Montgomery said the police had "disregarded everyone that's had a look at the investigation", had been "very dismissive" towards her and that she felt "completely let down, angry".

She said it "wasn't about [the driver] being sent to prison, it was about him taking responsibility for his actions, and the police basically allowed him not to take that responsibility".

She added she wanted "police to apologise for apportioning blame to my husband... and the fact they did not consider taking the matter to the CPS".

In response to Ms Montgomery's comments, Ch Supt David Boyle said: "There have been several reviews of this case and we have carried out a further review following the inquest, carefully considering the information from the coroner.

"Senior officers from Joint Protective Services Command and Bedfordshire Police reviewing the case were satisfied that investigations were carried out to the required standards and professionalism.

"We understand the difficulties for the family of such a tragic case and our deepest sympathies remain with them all."

Liberal Democrat MP for St Albans, Daisy Cooper, said the coroner had been "quite clear in her findings that she rejected the conclusions... reached by the police".

"I have written to the CPS and Bedfordshire Police about the obvious shortcomings in their investigation," she said. "I will continue to explore every avenue of redress with Claire."

Last month the BBC reported that an internal review into the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire roads policing unit in 2018 had raised "failures" in investigations.

They included witnesses or suspects "not being interviewed until a considerable period of time" afterwards.

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