WIREDGOV

A South Wales Police driver could not have taken any more preventative action than he did when a 93-year-old woman stepped out in front of his police van in Cardiff, an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation found.

An inquest into the death of Winifred Greaves concluded yesterday and found she sustained a head injury after a fall in the road and her death was accidental.

Mrs Greaves had been trying to cross Merthyr Road, Whitchurch on Saturday 8 December 2018 at around 5pm.

Our investigation found it was likely that Mrs Greaves stepped out as the police van approached. The officer braked, swerved to avoid her, and got out of the van to find Mrs Greaves lying in the road.

She was taken to hospital as a precaution, but her condition deteriorated, and she sadly died the next day.

IOPC investigators attended the scene and the post-incident procedure, obtained accounts from a number of witnesses, reviewed the police log and body worn camera footage, and commissioned a report from a forensic collision investigator.

The collision investigator found no evidence of an impact with the van and if there was any contact, it was likely to have been glancing and at low speed.

Director for Wales Catrin Evans yesterday said:

“Mrs Greaves’ death was clearly a tragic accident and my thoughts are with her family and friends.

“It was important for us to investigate what happened and it’s clear from our inquiries that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the police driver.”

Our investigation was completed by April 2019 and publication of our findings has awaited the end of the inquest.