‘POLICE YET TO APOLOGISE FOR FAILINGS’
T HE MOTHER of a young woman who died in a terrifying car pursuit through Cardiff has said she is yet to receive an apology from police.
Police watchdog the IPCC this week published its report into the death of Sophie Taylor, who was 22 when she died in a fatal crash in Adamsdown in August 2016.
It revealed that a police call handler was “dismissive” to concerns raised by the young woman.
Sophie had been pursued by two vehicles, one driven by her ex-partner Michael Wheeler and the other by Melissa Pesticcio, in a row over a loan.
The 999 call, which lasted for 24 minutes and ended six minutes before the fatal crash, was detailed in the IPCC report.
The call handler, named in the report 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.
It said the call handler “went beyond what was necessary” and was “openly and inappropriately” sceptical of the allegations of threats that Miss Taylor was making.
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 him 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-boyfriend had bought using a loan that she had taken out.
The call lasted 24 minutes and it ended with the call handler telling Miss Taylor that 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, Cardiff.
Video footage from CCTV cameras across the city 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, branded the pair’s behaviour “despicable”.
He said: “They literally drove Sophie to her death and left Joshua with horrific injuries from which he may never recover.”
The Independent Police Complaints Commission looked into contact between South Wales Police and Miss Taylor and Mr Deguara on the night she died, as well as before the incident.
Their 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, the 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 during the 24-minute call.
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 22 August 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 had also agreed that two other 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 August 22.
The IPCC investigation ended in November this year and had been suspended while criminal proceedings were ongoing.
Speaking after the publication of the IPCC report, Sophie’s mother Jackie said: “At the very least, they should have been told to drive to a place of safety first. After all, the 999 call was placed while they were being pursued.
“The call handler’s initial response was flawed. Who was monitoring his call, considering he was on the call to my daughter for an astounding 24 minutes?
“Who else was in that control room on the night with the authority and the experience to deal with that type of situation?
“Where is the background support for the call handler as he was clearly not capable of dealing with the situation?
“I feel the IPCC statement waters down the response to an emergency call to an administrative technicality.
“There were also other individuals involved who did not record vital data leading up to the fatal night my daughter lost her life. These individuals will only be given ‘feedback’ on their underperformance. Had they recorded this data, my daughter may possibly still be alive.
“One other thing, in all of this, not once has South Wales Police ever apologised for the failings of their staff.”