POLICE’S DEATH CHASE FAILINGS
999 CALL HANDLER WAS ‘DISMISSIVE’ TO DRIVER MINUTES BEFORE SHE WAS CHASED TO HER DEATH ON A CARDIFF STREET
A POLICE call handler was “dismissive” and “unprofessional” to a woman minutes before she was killed in a terrifying car chase through Cardiff, a report by the police watchdog has found.
Sophie Taylor, 22, died after she crashed while being pursued by two vehicles as she drove through Adamsdown on August 22 last year.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) yesterday published its report into South Wales Police’s contact with Miss Taylor before her death.
She had been pursued by two vehicles – one driven by her ex-boyfriend Michael Wheeler, and the other by Wheeler’s ex Melissa Pesticcio – in a row over a loan.
The 999 call, which went on for 24 minutes, and ended six minutes before the fatal crash, is detailed in the IPCC report.
The call handler, named in the report only as “Mr A”, has since resigned from the force before being issued with a misconduct notice and now cannot face disciplinary action.
The report details how, during the call, he told Miss Taylor she had been “absolutely mad” to take out a loan for Mr Wheeler.
And it said the call handler “went beyond what was necessary” and was “openly and inappropriately” sceptical of Miss Taylor’s allegations about being threatened.
It said: “For example, he asked Miss Taylor whether she was ‘telling fibs’ about the threats and asked her to confirm that she was alleging that Mr Wheeler’s relative had threatened her.”
It also criticised the handler for failing to contain his personal frustration, and said he should have linked Michael Wheeler’s record on the police computer system to his report in the incident log.
The record would have shown Wheeler to be a “serial perpetrator of domestic abuse” with a “violent” warning marker and previous convictions.
However, the report concluded that his final decision to grade the call as requiring a “scheduled” response within 24 hours was “a reasonable decision for him to make”, given the lack of evidence Miss Taylor was in immediate danger.
Wheeler admitted causing death by dangerous driving and serious injury by dangerous driving in December 2016.
His former partner Melissa Pesticcio was also convicted of the same offences in May 2017 after a trial.
Wheeler was sentenced to seven and a half years in custody and Pesticcio was sentenced to six and a half years.
Sophie’s friend, Joshua Deguara, was a passenger in the car and suffered lifechanging injuries.
Just after midnight on August 22, Mr Deguara made a 999 call where he said he was in a car being driven by Miss Taylor and that they were being chased.
Miss Taylor pulled over the car and told the call handler she had been threatened by her ex-boyfriend and his family due to a dispute over a motorcycle her ex had bought using a loan that she had taken out.
The call lasted 24 minutes and it ended with the call hander telling Miss Taylor someone would be in touch with her within 24 hours to take a statement.
Mr Deguara then called 999 a second time to say two cars were following them.
As he was speaking, the car crashed into a block of flats on Meteor Street.
Video footage from CCTV cameras showed Wheeler’s Vauxhall Corsa colliding with Ms Taylor’s black BMW One Series, causing it to spin into a building.
Prosecutors said Wheeler and Pesticcio gave a “joint pursuit” and, speaking after her conviction, acting Detective Chief Inspector Rob Cronick, from South Wales Police, said: “They literally drove Sophie to her death and left Joshua with horrific injuries from which he may never recover.”
The IPCC looked into contact between South Wales Police and Miss Taylor and Mr Deguara, both on the night she died and before the incident.
Its investigation also looked at contact from third parties.
Investigators analysed police incident logs, the audio of radio and telephone communications, and evidence obtained during the police investigation.
In the IPCC lead investigator’s opinion, a call handler had a case to answer for misconduct for failing to link appropriate people to the incident log, failing to input sufficient detail, and for displaying apparent dismissiveness when speaking to Miss Taylor.
IPCC operations manager Mel Evans said: “My thoughts remain with Miss Taylor and Mr Deguara’s families and friends following this tragic incident.
“In the first 999 call on August 22 there were concerns about the manner in which the call handler dealt with the call which was described as dismissive and unprofessional.
“We did, however, conclude that the call grading given, that officers would contact Miss Taylor within 24 hours, was reasonable in the circumstances known at that time.”
South Wales Police also agreed that two officers are to be given feedback and advised by their line managers after their performance was considered to be below the standards expected in relation to their involvement in the incidents reported prior to the night of the fatal crash.