Death crash PC ‘excessive speed’ claim
Tony, 80, watches 75th anniversary show… and spots himself at Palace
HORROR The crash scene
A POLICE officer had been driving “excessively fast” before hitting a pensioner who later died, a disciplinary panel has heard.
PC Richard Harris hit David Ormesher, 79, at close to 55mph while on an emergency call at night.
He was said to have earlier reached 70mph.
The street, in a built-up area, had a 20mph limit.
No criminal case was pursued over the accident in Brighton in August 2017.
James Berry, bringing a case of gross misconduct, said: “He was driving too fast, with insufficient planning for other road users.”
Passenger PC Samantha Cooper said her colleague’s driving was “faultless”.
PC Harris denies gross misconduct. The hearing in Lewes, East Sussex, is expected to last five days.
Tony at the Palace railings with his mum and gran
DELIGHTED grandad Tony Lister spotted himself on TV in historic footage from VE Day 75 years ago.
Tony had spent decades trying to find pictures of his family outside Buckingham Palace as they cheered the end of war in Europe in 1945.
But he stumbled on them by chance while watching a BBC documentary broadcast for the 75th anniversary.
The black and white archive footage shows him as a young boy at the Palace gates, chanting “We want the King”, with his mum and grandmother at his side.
Tony, 80, said: “It’s like stumbling across a lost piece of family history – I’ve been looking for that picture for 40 years.
“I knew they had cameras there and I just wanted to see it. The amazing thing is I remember being taken to London by my nan. I didn’t realise my mother was there too. It just brought back so many happy memories, I was so amazed.
“I’ve had such a good life – and this is just a bonus.”
Widower Tony, a retired foundry worker, thought he had watched every film showing the VE night celebrations.
He discovered the clip after recording the BBC show which aired in May. About five minutes in, he recognised himself on the screen. It shows him clinging to the railings alongside his mum Bobby and grandmother Esther Collins.
They were cheering Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth.
Tony, who also served in the merchant navy, added: “The thing that sticks in my
JUBILANT Cheering crowds outside Palace
Grandad Tony with footage
TONY LISTER RECALLS VE DAY OUTSIDE PALACE mind is being passed over the crowd – they lifted me up, and then let my nan and my mum through to the front.
“I remember seeing Churchill and the Royal Family and the footage shows I was shouting ‘We want the King’.”
Tony, of Halstead, Essex, was evacuated from London to Sussex after a parachute mine exploded on his street.
His dad Dennis flew Spitfires and Hurricanes in the war, reaching the rank of Flight Sergeant.
Tony, a grandad of four, has proudly hung a picture from the programme in his living room, alongside photos of his wife Rosemary, who died in 2013.
But he says the find means pals at his local football club now know his age.
He said: “Unfortunately everyone knows how old I am now. I’m getting my leg pulled left, right and centre.”
They let my mum and nan to the front, I was passed over the crowd