Police exonerated

Christchurch: The police watchdog has found the officers who attended a Christchurch incident where a pedestrian was killed by a driver evading police did not contribute to the death.

The driver of the van, Liam

Strickland, was the subject of a nineday manhunt before he was found and charged with murder.

He has since pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is in prison.

The incident began when two people ran away from a car after a police pursuit ended in New Brighton.

One of the them, Strickland, then stole a van from a nearby property, which he used to ram a police car.

He then struck Mr Amies but did not stop and took off at speed.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority found the officers in the rammed patrol car did not know the van had been stolen and their pursuit was appropriate. — RNZ