David Fudge: What went wrong with the police investigation?

The widow of motorcyclist David Fudge says she was told her husband was partly to blame for the crash which killed him and that the driver who caused his death would not be prosecuted. After funding her own investigation, the driver has now been brought to justice.

Former engineer David Fudge was looking forward to a long and enjoyable retirement with his wife Claire Montgomery and their family.

He had, Ms Montgomery said, been saving up for his retirement "ever since he was a teenager".

The day before their planned trip to Costa Rica in November 2018, Mr Fudge, 66, went out with fellow motorcycle club members.

He had ridden motorbikes for 50 years and had never been involved in an accident before.

Mr Fudge only got to enjoy four years of retirement before he was killed, when the driver of a car did a U-turn on the A4146 near Billington in Bedfordshire and crashed into him. He was declared dead at the scene.

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, the elderly driver of the car, William Curtis, who was in his 80s, was deemed not fit to be interviewed until June 2019 - seven months after the crash.

After he was finally interviewed at his home, police decided no further action would be taken.

Ms Montgomery said she later learned that the husband of Mr Curtis's granddaughter - herself a Cambridgeshire Police staff member - was present at that interview as support, although it is understood he did not interrupt or impede the interview.

But Mr Curtis's granddaughter received management advice after emailing an officer asking for an update to the case in the month after the collision. It was not considered to be a disciplinary matter.

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

But at a subsequent inquest, Emma Whitting, senior coroner for Bedfordshire, rejected the police conclusions about the crash, adding she could "understand why Mr Fudge's family have been unsatisfied by the police investigation".

She also said: "In my view... the collision occurred when the driver of the Hyundai turned into the path of Mr Fudge."

The police team responsible, the joint Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire roads policing unit, was under close scrutiny at the time of Mr Fudge's death.

That same year an internal review found "failures... requiring immediate attention" within investigations, including that it "appears to be an accepted current practice" that "witnesses or suspects were not being interviewed until a considerable period of time after the incident".

After the coroner's comments, Mr Fudge's death was reviewed by police. However, they again refused to refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Ms Montgomery decided to take action into her own hands.

She spent thousands on an expert, David Loat, to carry out his own investigation.

"Mr Loat undertook the report for me, commenting on the original police forensic report that he thought it was a disgrace," said Ms Montgomery.

"He produced his own one, laying the blame fairly and squarely with the driver... he was shocked and stunned with the [original] police report."

She said she sent Mr Loat's report to Bedfordshire's Chief Constable, Garry Forsyth.

"After several weeks," she said, "he finally conceded defeat, [he] admitted that they got it wrong".

The case was sent to Essex Police for another view, before it was referred to the CPS, who charged Mr Curtis with causing death by careless driving.

Ms Montgomery believes the ramifications could reach far beyond her husband's case.

"They just did not do a proper investigation, and if they've done it wrong in this case how many other cases have they got wrong?

"People could have been sent to prison, or not sent to prison, based on erroneous reports."

At a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, Curtis was found guilty of causing death by careless driving after denying the charge.

The 88-year-old, of Oak Close in Irchester, Northamptonshire, will be sentenced on 30 September.

In a peculiar twist to the case, two of the officers involved in the original investigation were called as defence witnesses.

Jurors were also told there were errors in the preparation of the original report by PC Bruce Lister.

For Ms Montgomery, the verdict of the jury was of secondary importance. Her main focus was on the police's handling of the case. Bedfordshire Police have, she said, "put me and my family through what would be four years of hell".

Before the trial, Ms Montgomery met with Mr Forsyth, who apologised to her and her family.

She said the apology was "for blaming my husband, apportioning 50% blame to himself for causing his own death and for a very poor investigation that in fact seemed to favour the driver".

"I would say there was bias in their investigation and prejudice against my husband who was a motorcyclist," she added.

In a letter seen by the BBC, Mr Forsyth told Ms Montgomery: "Listening to you in person, and hearing, in addition to dealing with the grief of your husband's death the unnecessary impact, pain and frustration that the police investigation had on you and your family, I am truly sorry.

"The mistakes that were made during the course of the investigation which include the original report, subsequent reviews and the interactions that you have had whilst pursuing due process are inexcusable."

There has since been an overhaul of collision investigations within the joint forces.

It is split into two units; one made up of 20 officers in dealing with forensic scene investigation and another of 19 officers and staff formed of vehicles examiners, detectives and a dedicated family liaison coordinator.

Police have also reimbursed Ms Montgomery for Mr Loat's report.

She said the past few years had been "devastating".

"It's just been fighting against bureaucracy, an institution that you hope in this country are there to serve the public and not somehow just covering up their own mistakes," she said. "I don't understand how they got themselves in this situation."

No officer has been disciplined as a result of Bedfordshire Police's handling of the case.

Police issued a statement from Mr Forsyth, which said: "The failings in the investigation into the collision undoubtedly compounded the pain, suffering and grief that Mr Fudge's wife and family have had to endure since his death, and I am genuinely sorry for that.

"If it had not been for their relentless campaigning there is real potential this would have slipped by and justice would have been missed. I'm so pleased that didn't happen and Mr Fudge's loved ones have had the opportunity for the case to be heard at court.

"We have already reimbursed the costs of their private investigation, which played a key role in the matter being re-opened, and the learnings from this case informed a review and restructure of the teams responsible for the investigation of fatal collisions, to make improvements and ultimately prevent it from happening again."

As for Ms Montgomery, she said her motivation came from "knowing that it is so unjust and working for Dave's memory".

"He had another 20 years, you would have hoped, more motorcycling trips to do, and his life was cut short four years into his retirement.

"I just feel I had to do it and I just wasn't going to rest until the police changed their mind."

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