THE PSNI has been warned over high-speed car chases of suspects, with the Police Ombudsman criticising officers for pursuits where it was "clear that the risks outweighed the reasons to continue".
It comes following an investigation by the ombudsman's office into two crashes involving police pursuits, in which one person died and three others sustained serious injuries.
A total of eight police officers have been disciplined, as a result, for breaches of the police pursuit policy.
In the first crash in October 2014, 19-year-old Conal Daly was killed when a car being driven by a 16-year-old, and with another 16-year-old passenger, collided with an oncoming vehicle during a high speed chase on the Saintfield Road near Carryduff.
Sister of Mercy nun Josephine McAteer (74), who was driving the other car, sustained two broken legs.
The ombudsman's investigation found that police cars reached speeds of up to 110 mph in a 50mph zone during the pursuit, after tailing the vehicle which they suspected of being connected to three thefts in Belfast.
"It should have been clear that the risks outweighed the reasons to continue. The thefts which sparked the pursuit involved goods valued at £172, and did not involve violence," said ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire.
Measures to improve police handling of such incidents, noted by the ombudsman, had begun to be implemented before the 2014 crash.
In the second crash, in Newtownabbey in February 2016, a driver sustained serious injuries and was thrown from his vehicle after being struck by a car which went through a red light while being pursued by police.
The pursuit, which lasted more than 11 minutes through north Belfast, saw the suspect reach speeds of 70 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Dr Maguire said that, while in both collisions those responsible were "the drivers who failed to stop for the police", officers should have "followed their own policy and stopped the pursuits".
"These state that the main consideration should be the risks posed by the suspect driver, not by police," he said.
“Both incidents involved cars travelling at high speeds through built up areas, narrowly avoiding collisions with other vehicles and running red lights, while police continued to give chase."
Mark Lindsay, the chairman of the Police Federation, said that the ombudsman had had "the luxury of time" compared to officers caught in a "highly charged, three-minute situation".
Highlighting "hundreds of pursuits each year" which do not result in harm, Mr Lindsay said: "The ombudsman has the benefit of hindsight, and the luxury of time to consider what officers should have done and how they should have behaved in a highly charged, three-minute situation."
Assistant Chief Constable Barbara Gray said the policy and training around pursuits is "currently being revised" in line with new advice from the College of Policing.
