Wed, 19th August Cardiff 17°
Nation.Cymru wordmark
Advertisement

News

Police officer not prosecuted over e-bike fatal crash

By Stephen Price
Council workers clear debris from the area immediately around a car that was set alight in Ely in May 2023.
Photo PA Wire

A police officer will not face criminal charges after following two teenagers in a van before they died in an e-bike crash two years ago.

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died in May 2023 when they crashed on a Sur-Ron bike minutes after CCTV captured them being followed by a police van in Ely, Cardiff.

Tensions between locals and police at the scene led to a riot lasting several hours, during which time dozens of officers were injured, property was damaged and cars were set alight.

Previously, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the driver of the police van had been told they were being criminally investigated for dangerous driving after being served with a gross misconduct notice.

Another officer, a passenger in the police van, was also previously served with a gross misconduct notice.

[mid-content-banner]

Review

The Crown Prosecution Service said it would not bring criminal charges against the South Wales Police officer.

Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division, said: “Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the two teenagers following their tragic deaths in May 2023.

“Following a thorough and detailed review of the evidence in relation to a single allegation of dangerous driving in this case, we have decided that no criminal charges will be brought against a South Wales Police officer.

“We have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

“We fully understand that this will be disappointing news for the families of both boys and will offer a meeting with them to explain our reasoning further.”

The decision is subject to the Victim’s Right of Review scheme which allows a victim or their families the ability to challenge the decision.

[lower-mid-content-banner]

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News

6 comments

Chris

If I recall correctly, this was not an e-bike but an e-motorbike? Please amend the article if so.

Reply
Smurf

the term 'bike' is commonly used to refer to a MOTORbike. You already have a term for an electric cycle - a pedelec - from Wikipedia "A Pedelec (from pedal electric cycle) or EPAC (electronically power assisted cycle), is a type of low-powered electric bicycle where the rider's pedalling is assisted by a small electric motor." Why this daft insistence on trying to hijack the term bike for cycles?

Reply
blc

This is your regular reminder that, legally speaking, an “e-bike” is an electrically assisted pedal cycle and has specific criteria that must be met in order to be classified as such. To qualify as an electrically assisted pedal cycle: the powered assistance must be activated by pedals, it must be limited in power to 250 watts, and it cannot provide powered assistance above 15.5mph. Anything that falls outside of this is a motorcycle and must be approved, classified, licensed, registered, and insured as such. It goes without saying that riders must be appropriately licensed for the vehicle. The “Sur-Ron” “bike” in this incident does not meet any of the criteria to be classified as an electrically assisted pedal cycle. It doesn’t even have pedals, it operates on a twist throttle. None of this changes the fact that two kids losing their lives is a tragedy. It also doesn’t change the fact that the police conduct during the incident should be thoroughly examined, and any wrongdoing should be dealt with appropriately. And it doesn’t change the fact that bikes like this are easy to obtain in the UK, and that they’re used regularly by delivery riders. But it is important context. The police weren’t chasing kids riding an e-bike; they were chasing kids riding an illegal, unlicensed, unregistered, untaxed, and uninsured motorcycle.

Reply
Y Cymro

Yes, we can criticise the police approach when trying to arrest these two teens that fateful day, but in reality those really responsible for their deaths besides the two teens themselves They not only recklessly drove an illegally altered e-bike that should have only had a top speed of 15 mph but exceeded 28 mph+ putting not only their own lives at risk, other road users , but the pedestrians too. Also at fault is the UK Government. It was they with EAPC ( Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles) who gave the greenlight to sell these e- bikes to the public. Either the manufacturer or retailer offered or added the modification part that changed its speed. Sadly the parents must take responsibility too seeing it was they who bought the e-bike as a 15th birthday present for their son. An error of judgement that will haunt them forever. Surely the parents must have asked their son where he intended using the e-bike? And who bought the modification? Was it already on the bike, but if not, was it requested by them after advice from their son seeing the teen himself was too young to purchase the bike. An even if bought for themselves would have failed the DVLA EAPC rules concerning Non-compliant e-bikes. A tragedy all-round.

Reply
blc

See my comment; it wasn’t a modified EAPC, it wasn’t an EAPC at all. That model does not have any pedals so it could never have met the definition of EAPC. As to why it was able to be purchased and used in the UK… It’s very easy to import stuff from abroad these days. All the seller has to do is add a disclaimer that it’s the buyer’s responsibility to ensure that they use the product in accordance with whatever laws apply. It’s not strictly illegal to buy, import, and use a non-compliant “e-bike” from abroad… if you use it on private land with permission from the land owner. This is just the modern version of an off-road scrambler motorbike. In fact that’s exactly what Sur-Ron sold it as: an off-road only bike. Kids have been riding scramblers on the road illegally for decades, the only difference now is that they can be powered by batteries and electric motors, instead of a blaring 2-stroke engine.

Reply
Andy

It wasn't a modified EAPC bike they were riding its one designed to be used off-road only and is sold with a disclaimer clearly stating that the bike is not to be used on any public roads you can't even use it on any of the many UK bike parks as it would also be banned from them the only place this bike is fit to be ridden is off road as in a farmer's field if you have permission the sur-ron bikes motor can hit speeds of 45mph to 50mph that's getting close to a 100cc motorbike speed (epac motor will cut out at 15.5mph)and the tennagers should never have been on the road with it in the 1st place it's just like riding a off road trials motorcycle that would have not light ect on the road as basically that's what this kind of bike is based on it's designed to be an electric powered off-road trials bike maybe not as powerful as a petrol for motorbike but still nowhere near being a streetly gone epac. We either need to clamp down on the import rules on this kind of bike which is a little unfair on the people that are generally using them as off-road dirt bikes or people just need to be a little bit more responsible but probably never going to happen

Reply

Leave a reply

Replying to Andy Cancel

It wasn't a modified EAPC bike they were riding its one designed to be used off-road only and is sold with a disclaimer clearly stating that the bike is not to be used on any public roads you can't even use it on any of the many UK bike par...

Comments are reviewed before they appear.