A POLICE officer faces claims of gross misconduct after a pensioner was killed in a road crash.

PC Richard Harris faces a five-day hearing over the incident in Edward Street, Brighton, nearly three years ago.

Pensioner David Ormesher, 79, died when he was struck by a Ford Mondeo estate car in the early hours of August 25, 2017.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) was called in to investigate the circumstances.

PC Harris was responding to an emergency call, but the claims against him are that his driving was in a manner which was neither necessary, reasonable, or proportionate in the circumstances, including those of the 999 response.

It is alleged that he narrowly avoided a collision with a car turning into the Esso garage in Eastern Road, that he overtook a van and bus, that he narrowly avoided a collision with a car travelling in the opposite direction, and finally that he was driving at “excessive speed” when he saw Mr Ormersher as a pedestrian and was therefore unable to stop.

Force standards will have to decide whether PC Harris’s driving breached professional standards, and if so, whether this amounts to gross misconduct.

The Argus:

Read more on this story: Pedestrian David Ormesher killed after police car crash in Brighton (from 2017)

The IOPC completed its investigation in 2018 and handed over a file for the Crown Prosecution Service.

The CPS decided not to press charges against PC Harris, although Mr Ormesher’s family did ask for the decision to be reviewed.

Flowers were left in tribute to Mr Ormesher, from Poole in Dorset, at the scene, near the junction with Devonshire Place.

At the time, residents were shocked by the news. Amanda Douglas, 44, of Mount Pleasant, said: “It was just about 1am and I was just getting ready to go to bed, and there was a loud bang.

The Argus:

Read more on this story: Tributes to David Ormesher, killed in Edward Street 

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

The Argus:

Read more on this story: Officer involved in fatal crash which killed David Ormesher named in inquest hearing

At the time, Superintendent Paul Betts said it was a “tragic incident” where the pedestrian was hit by a patrol car “responding to an emergency”.

He said the officers performed first aid and immediately called for paramedics, but Mr Ormesher died at the scene.

Mr Betts said both officers in the car were “understandably extremely distraught”.

The hearing for PC Harris starts on Monday.