Police chase ‘lasted one minute’ before fatal crash
STATEMENT BY POLICE WATCHDOG OVER INCIDENT
A POLICE watchdog has released further details on its investigation into a crash which claimed the lives of two men following a police pursuit.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has released a statement confirming the names of the Dewsbury men who died in the crash on Friday, July 17.
The IOPC investigation has established that the police pursuit lasted around one minute.
The statement said: “The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) can now name two men who died following a police pursuit in Brighouse.
“Mohammed Sohail Aziz, aged 23, and Suhail Akhtar, aged 20, died after their car crashed into a road barrier on Bradford Road in the early hours of Friday 17 July. Both men were from Dewsbury.
“Prior to the crash, their car had been pursued by a West Yorkshire Police car for a short time. Sadly, both men died at the scene.”
IOPC Regional Director Miranda Biddle said: “Our thoughts remain with all of those affected by this tragic incident. The men’s families are aware of our investigation, and we will continue to support and update them on our progress.
“We have established, so far, that Mr Aziz was the driver of the vehicle.
“The police vehicle signalled for him to stop, using their emergency lights, and he failed to do so.
“A short pursuit of approximately one minute then took place before the car crashed.
“While both vehicles will be examined in due course, at this stage we do not believe there was any contact between the cars.
“We have a number of witness statements, multiple CCTV recordings, and body worn video footage of the incident.
“This will be analysed alongside the police incident logs and statements from the officers involved to establish all of the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
Following the tragedy, tributes were paid to the men who died. One described them as ‘top lads’ who would be missed by many.