David Fudge death: 'Inappropriate' emails sent in U-turn death probe
Claire MontgomeryInappropriate emails were sent between a police officer and the family of a driver who killed a motorcyclist in a crash, a review found.
William Curtis, 89, killed David Fudge in Bedfordshire in 2018 and police have apologised for failures in the case.
An internal review, seen by the BBC, said reading the emails "one would believe [Curtis] was the victim of the collision rather than the suspect".
Bedfordshire Police said the learnings from the case "informed" a restructure.
Mr Fudge, 66, was performing a legal overtake on the A4146 near Billington when Curtis crashed into him while doing a U-turn.
Curtis was only charged after Mr Fudge's wife paid for a private report, as police had previously said no action would be taken.
In August, a Cambridge Crown Court jury found Curtis, of Oak Close, Irchester, Northamptonshire, guilty of causing death by careless driving and on Friday he was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.
In the same year of the crash, the investigating unit, the joint Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire roads policing unit, was found to have "failures... requiring immediate attention" within investigations, including that cases needed "closer management/supervision".
This year a review into the investigation over Mr Fudge's death was carried out and said the investigating officer, referred to as officer E, was new to the unit and "should have been supervised appropriately but also professional enough to ask for help and guidance, if needed".
It stated the relationship between officer E and Curtis's family "seemed to go beyond what would be expected of a relationship with a suspect".
"It is recognised Mr Curtis had issues impacting on the process of dealing with him as a suspect, but reading the email communication one would believe he was the victim of the collision rather than the suspect," the report said.
It also said Curtis's granddaughter, a Cambridgeshire Police employee, emailed the senior investigating officer (SIO) weeks after the collision asking "if she could have 10 minutes to update him with what was happening with them both".
The SIO told her "in the interests of safeguarding the investigation, they should communicate via email so it's auditable and transparent, that he couldn't comment on the investigation and if they had any information to pass it on to the investigating officer".
Claire MontgomeryThe reviewers found that: "It appeared the family were directing the police as to how they would deal with Mr Curtis.
"Several emails between officer [E] and the family are inappropriate. Some of these include discussion as to telling, or not telling Mr Curtis the collision caused the death of Mr Fudge.
"It was subsequently left only a few days before the interview for the family to tell Mr Curtis.
"The officers, however, are unaware of the accuracy of exactly what was said. Other emails give too much information on possible outcomes of the investigation."
Other review findings included:
- The interview of Curtis "lacked structure and professionalism"
- The conclusion of a report lacked "objectivity and demonstrates bias, in clear favour of a decision to take no further action against Mr Curtis"
- The use of a wrong formula in the forensic collision investigation report, which led to the decision not to refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service
- The finding that "not only is there a lack of supervisory oversight but there does not appear to be a detailed examination of the evidence by anyone"
Amongst its conclusions, the reviewers found: "This investigation was not particularly onerous but appears to have become so due to the lack of professionalism in the taking of statements and then attention to detail."
Andy Meeson/BBCSince the crash there has been an overhaul of collision investigations within the joint forces, including them being split into two units.
One is made up of 20 officers dealing with forensic scene investigation and another has 19 officers and staff formed of vehicles examiners, detectives and a dedicated family liaison coordinator.
Bedfordshire Police Chief Constable Garry Forsyth, 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."
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