Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MAN DIES AS POLICE CHASE CAR SMASHES INTO A BAR
A GRANDAD has been killed and another man seriously injured when they were ploughed into by a car that had been chased by police.
Locals said the VW Passat hit the victims outside a bar before it crashed into the building with a deafening bang that “sounded like an explosion”.
The dead man, named locally as Paul Collinson, 54, is thought to have been having a cigarette in the early hours yesterday as he waited to collect his barmaid girlfriend at the end of her shift.
Paul’s daughter Donna Arrianne Westerby said her heart is “broken”.
A regular at the pub described Paul as a “proper gent, with a heart of gold”. Paul is said to have been a dad-of-four.
A woman who lives near the pub, the County Hotel in the Walker area of Newcastle, said: “You could hear horrendous screaming coming from the car.
“There were four people inside, two men and two women. They looked in their late 20s.
“I heard someone shout there was a man trapped underneath.”
Three people in the car were taken to hospital. One had serious injuries. Police were initially called to reports of damaged vehicles.
They linked the damage to a Passat which officers then saw.
A spokesman said police signalled for it to stop and there was a “short pursuit... but the Passat drove off and officers lost sight of [it]”. He added: “Police were not pursuing it at the time of the collision.”
The case has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
DESCRIBES THE HORRIFIC SCENE