Special Sergeant Fined & Banned

Sun, 18 July 2010 Courtesy of: IPCC

A Suffolk Police special has been found guilty of careless driving following a managed Independent Police Complaints Commission investigation.

Special Sergeant Mykal Trim, 38, was found guilty at Norwich Crown Court today, Friday 16 July 2010, following a five day trial. He received a six month disqualification from driving, a £1000 fine and was ordered to pay £300 costs.

Special Sgt Trim had been patrolling with a colleague in the Carlton Colville area in the early hours of Saturday 14 February 2009. At around 1.40am they heard colleagues give details of a vehicle that had failed to stop for them and was heading out of Lowestoft town centre.

“The actions of Special Sgt Mykal were extremely careless and placed his colleague, members of the public and himself in extreme danger”

Colleagues in the town centre had been alerted to a man getting into a silver Mitsubishi Evo outside a nightclub by a member of the public who believed the man was drunk. Officers followed the car in their marked van for a short distance, before they switched on emergency equipment and indicated for the car to pull over. The car did not stop and sped off away from the van along Belvedere Road and then turned onto Tom Crisp Way.

Special Sgt Trim and a colleague were on Tom Crisp Way, but heading away from the area. Special Sgt Trim attempted to perform a three point turn but as the car was still poistioned across the carriageway the Mitsubishi drove into the side of it.

Special Sgt Trim's colleague in the passenger seat bore the brunt of the impact and suffered a number of fractures, including his pelvis, and his injuries were initially considered life threatening. Special Sgt Trim suffered a serious leg injury and the two men in the Mitsubishi suffered various injuries, none of which were life threatening.

Suffolk Police referred the matter to the IPCC. Following an assessment an IPCC investigator was appointed to manage an investigation by officers Suffolk Police.

The police car's onboard computer shows that it was turned across the road approximately three seconds before the collision. A reconstruction was done and taking into consideration a number of factors it was estimated that Special Sgt Trim would have seen the Mitsubishi ten to eleven seconds before the collision took place, leaving him little time to complete the manoeuvre.

Special Sgt Trim had received the basic level of driver training and in line with guidance affecting the duties of specials had not activated emergency equipment. Also specials are not allowed to engage in pursuits and can only act in an observational capacity.

IPCC Commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: "The actions of Special Sgt Mykal were extremely careless and placed his colleague, members of the public and himself in extreme danger. The investigation, which was conducted by Suffolk police and managed by an IPCC investigator, presented the jury with a clear picture of the incident and based on this evidence they have found him guilty of careless driving.

"The injuries his colleague, also a special, suffered have had a lasting detrimental impact on his life. I wish him the best as his recovery continues."