Shortly after 4am on August 4th, 2001, two police officers travelling in a police Land Rover noticed the tail lights of a car parked in a car park opposite Kirkistown Golf Club. The officers became suspicious when the tail lights went off as they approached.
Upon investigation, a police officer noticed two males in the front of the vehicle, apparently asleep, and another male lying on the back seat. The officer rapped the window, and when no one stirred, opened the driver's door. He then noticed that the ignition wires were hanging down, leading him to believe that the car had been "hotwired" (a method used by car thieves to bypass car ignition systems).
As one officer contacted his local control room to establish if the car had in fact been stolen, the man in the driver's seat appeared to wake, and after a brief conversation with the officer, started the car and drove off. An officer struck the side of the vehicle with his baton as it drove past, and ordered the driver to stop. The car, however, continued, driving out of the car park onto the wrong side of the road and setting off towards Portavogie in the dark and without its headlights on.
The police gave chase but failed to keep pace with the car. Officers stated that by the time they reached the junction with the Kircubbin Road the car was apparently negotiating a bend about 800 yards ahead of them with no sign of any braking or sidelights. As the police reached this bend the car was out of sight.
However, at the next turn in the road, some 250 yards ahead, they noticed the car lying on its roof in the middle of the road, and debris strewn over the tarmac. It appeared to have crashed into a derelict building at the roadside.
Police summoned the other emergency services to the scene and attended to the occupants of the car. The driver was found to be dead and the two passengers were trapped in the vehicle. They were given first aid and eventually freed by the Fire Brigade.
A subsequent post mortem on the body of the driver concluded that the cause of death had been a severe neck injury. He was also found to have been drinking and had just over twice the legal driving limit of alcohol in his bloodstream, as well as traces of cannabis.
Outcome of investigation:
The Police Ombudsman's office monitored the police investigation of the incident and found it to be thorough and comprehensive.
The Police Ombudsman concluded: "The evidence available from the investigation by this office has not revealed any criminal offences by any member of the police service. Whilst it is clear that the vehicle made off from police it is apparent that the police vehicle was a considerable distance behind the car when the crash occurred and was losing ground rather than gaining ground.
"The investigation has revealed that the conduct of all the RUC officers did not constitute a breach of the RUC (Conduct) Regulations 2000."