Probe launched after police crash

David Ormesher, 79, from Poole, Dorset, was struck by the marked Ford Mondeo estate car at 12.50am on Friday in Edward Street, Brighton.

The elderly victim died at the scene at around 2am.

One shocked resident described seeing the victim lying in the middle of the road motionless, near the junction with Devonshire Place.

Amanda Douglas, 44, of Mount Pleasant, said: “It was just about 1am and I was getting ready to go to bed, and there was a loud bang.

“I looked out of the window and there was a police car by the bus stop and behind it a man lying in the road.

“I saw a male and female officer come out of the police car and she was on the phone shouting: ‘I need urgent assistance’.

“An officer turned him over and started resuscitating him straight away.

“They managed to get him breathing briefly but then he was gone again.”

Police cordoned of the busy street, leading from the city centre to Kemp Town, as they conducted their investigation.

Sussex Police referred the crash to the Independent Police Complaints Commission which is usual procedure when a police car is involved in a fatal collision.

Superintendent Paul Betts said: “The collision happened at about 12.50am and the officers immediately called for assistance and performed first aid but sadly the man died.

“The officers involved are understandably extremely distraught.

“We have spoken with his family to whom I offer my deepest sympathies for this tragic incident.

“The IPCC is carrying out an independent investigation which we will fully support.

“As a result we will not be able to comment further on the investigation.”

IPCC investigators attended the scene yesterday morning and also spoke to the police officers involved.

They have also met with residents and are now working to source CCTV of the collision.

The IPCC said whether the police car was operating with lights and sirens activated and the speed of the vehicle is subject to investigation.

IPCC associate commissioner Tom Milsom said: “Our thoughts today are with all of those affected by this tragic incident.

“We are in contact with Mr Ormesher’s family to explain our role and offer our condolences. It is important for all of those affected that we establish the circumstances surrounding the collision and we would like to hear from anyone who may have seen or heard anything that could assist our investigators.”

'The man was lying motionless in the road'

EDWARD Street was bathed in blue lights in the early hours of Friday morning as emergency services responded to the tragic killing of a man hit by a police car.

The victim was struck by the car around 12.50am when most residents were asleep.

“It was just about 1am and I was just getting ready to go to bed and there was a loud bang,” said Amanda Douglas.

When the 44-year-old went to look out her window she witnessed harrowing scenes on the road outside her home.

She said: “I looked out of the window and there was a police car by the bus stop and a man lying in the road behind by the estate agents.”

Ms Douglas she did not hear sirens before the crash, and reckons the man had been thrown quite some distance by the fast moving car.

She said: “I saw a male and female officer come out of the police car and she was on the phone shouting: ‘I need urgent assistance’.

“They kept it together but you could really see they were horrified.” After the initial shock of the incident the officers turned their attention to saving the man.

She described: “He turned him over and started resuscitating him straight away.

“The man was on the floor lying motionless in the middle of the road. “They managed to get him breathing briefly but then he was gone again.”

A woman who was walking behind the victim and witnessed the whole inciden, screamed at the officers. Within minutes police cars and and ambulances flooded the area turning the street into a sea of blue lights.

Ms Douglas, who has lived on the road for ten years, added: “I was really shocked and it was really upsetting to watch someone die in front of me there.”

As the sun rose Edward Street was a maze of police tape with the cordon stretching far and wide only metres from Brighton Police Station in William Street.

A blue tent could be seen over the victim’s body in the middle of the road as forensic investigators in white boilers suits combed the area with meticulous attention and traffic cops conducted crash tests.

The marked Ford Mondeo Estate car involved in the collision could be seen without its wing mirror and dented on the driver’s side before it was loaded onto a recovery vehicle.

When The Argus visited the busy street, leading to Royal Sussex County Hospital nearby, at 10am, the only reminder of last night’s events had been a single piece of police tape in Devonshire Place, and journalists knocking on doors.

Residents and visitors staying in the area were shocked as they heard news of the fatal collision but for some it explained the loud thud or blue lights they had heard or saw during the night.

A teenage girl visiting the city, staying in Mount Pleasant, heard a loud thud during the night. The 18-year-old, who didn’t want to be named, said: “My room backed on to the road and I heard a big crash.

“It was quite loud and I thought something of it, I didn’t go and investigate it.

“But when I was told about it this morning it did resonate with me.”

Ms Newman,45, of Mount Pleasant, did not the realise the magnitude of the incident outside her home. “I didn’t look out of the window but the flashing lights was enough to let me know that something was going on outside.

“When you’re on a main road you get all the flashing lights and sirens on a day-to-day basis. You tend not to take an awful lot of notice.”

Latest IPCC probe for the force

THE INDEPENDENT Police Complaints Commission’s (IPCC) latest probe into the force comes only months after a man was killed by a car which was being pursued by police.

John Sasvari, 78, of Little Preston Street, Brighton, was crossing Old Steine near the junction with St James’s Street, when he was knocked over by a car driven by Gavin Dawes.

Dawes and his friend Richard Woolgar had been racing when they were pursued by police who followed them from Coldean towards Brighton city centre.

The racers headed in different directions, before Dawes sped out of sight of the pursuing police car and smashed into Mr Sasvari.

After his death, the IPCC carried out an investigation into Sussex Police’s involvement in the collision.

Earlier this month the IPCC ruled: “The investigation concluded that while police pursued the Astra prior to the collision with Mr Sasvari, as it had earlier failed to stop for police, officers had lost sight of the Astra at the time of the collision...

“The IPCC investigation identified no concerns with the actions of officers involved.”

Dawes, 34, of Phoenix Rise, Brighton, was jailed for ten years and three months on a charge of causing death by dangerous driving in June.

While Woolgar, 36, of Donald Hall Road, Brighton, was jailed for a year.

Figures released by the police watchdog revealed in the year up to March 2017 there were 28 deaths nationally related to the pursuit of vehicles.