Coroner calls for police pursuit review after Swansea man’s death

A coroner has asked South Wales Police to review the way they conduct police pursuits after the death of a motorcyclist.

Alex Lewis, 19, from Cockett, Swansea, died on 2 December 2022 after braking and losing control of his bike and crashing into a car after failing to stop for a police officer.

Senior coroner for Swansea and Neath Port Talbot Aled Gruffydd raised concerns that officers were expected to undertake a “significant number of tasks on their own” during pursuits and that, had a second officer been present, they could have seen the motorcyclist running a red light and stood the pursuit down.

South Wales Police have been approached for comment.

In a prevention of future deaths report (POFD), Aled Gruffydd said the pursuing officer failed to notice Mr Lewis running a red light because he would have been looking around to check for traffic and focusing on maintaining control of his vehicle.

The report concluded that had he seen this, he could have raised the risk to high and potentially stood the pursuit down.

The pursuing driver also stated there was no opportunity to communicate the risk with the control centre, given the driving responsibilities.

The officer in charge of driver training acknowledged it would be safer to have a second officer in the car but this would mean halving the number of trained units able to assist.

An inquest into the death of Alex Lewis concluded he died of chest injuries received during the collision on St Helen’s Road, Swansea, while being pursued by police.

The crash occurred after Mr Lewis’s motorbike had skidded into a car after breaking heavily.

A copy of the POFD report has been sent to South Wales Police and the Home Office.