Greater Manchester Police officers did not engage in a ‘pursuit’ of a 15-year-old boy prior to a fatal crash, according to GMP guidelines – an inquest jury has concluded. Saul Cookson, 15, had been riding an electric motorcycle when he was spotted by two police officers who were on patrol in Salford on June 8 2023.
The inquest at Bolton Coroners’ Court this week has examined the moments which led up to Saul colliding with a North West Ambulance Service ambulance. CCTV and dashcam footage show Saul on the electric motorcycle, which piqued the officers’ interest due to the vehicles being associated with illegal activity and having no registration number.
The officers, who cannot be named for ‘operational reasons’ and were referred to in court as Officer E7, the driver, and Officer D5, the passenger, said they didn’t consider their subsequent tailing of Saul to be a ‘pursuit’. According to guidance used by GMP, a pursuit begins after a request to stop, such as sounding the siren or flashing headlights, has been ignored.
READ MORE: Inside shamed prison guard Linda De Sousa Abreu’s ‘horrific’ life behind bars with Lucy Letby
READ MORE: Snow LIVE updates after Manchester Airport shuts, motorways and roads hit by ‘severe’ delays with schools closed
As the officers did not make a request to Saul to stop or pull over they did not consider their actions to constitute a ‘pursuit’. The officers had followed Saul in their marked BMW X5 before he slipped through a set of bollards and collided with the ambulance, after which officer D5 and the paramedics in the ambulance had rushed to Saul’s aid.
Now, a jury has accepted this evidence and concluded that according to police guidance the officers had not engaged in a pursuit of Saul. Addressing the court, the jury foreperson said: “According to police policies this was not a pursuit.”
The jury added that the crash between Saul’s electric motorcycle and the ambulance had been ‘unavoidable’. Saul’s cause of death was recorded as being multiple traumatic injuries, and the conclusion reached by the jury was that of a road traffic collision.
Tributes were laid to Saul at the scene of the collision -Credit:Manchester Evening News
After giving their conclusion, the jury also offered their condolences to Saul’s family, and extended their thanks to the police and ambulance service.
Saul Cookson was born on August 23 2007 in Salford. He died on June 8 2023 at Salford Royal Hospital, aged 15.
Coroner Mike Pemberton thanked the jury for their service. He added: “I would like to take my opportunity to express my sincere condolences to Saul’s family.”