A police officer is being investigated for misconduct over a crash in which three friends died and two others were trapped for almost 48 hours.
Two police forces are being investigated over the deaths of Eve Smith, Darcy Ross – both 21 – and Rafel Jeanne, 24, after their car veered from a road into woodland in a Cardiff suburb.
Sophie Russon, 20, and Shane Loughlin, 32, survived the tragedy and were freed from the car after spending 46 hours trapped alongside their friends.
Gwent police and South Wales police are both being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over their handling of the incident in March.
The Volkswagen Tiguan the friends had been travelling in was discovered just after midnight on 6 March, 46 hours after the last contact from or sighting of the group. The families of the three women had all reported them missing on the evening of 4 March.
The IOPC said: “We have served a notice at the level of misconduct on a Gwent police officer concerning their review of the missing persons’ logs and relevant risk assessments. We are also considering whether the age of the missing persons impacted on the officer’s decision making.
“Such notices advise an officer they are subject to investigation and are kept under review. They do not necessarily mean that any disciplinary proceedings will follow.”
The IOPC said it continued to speak to officers who attended the collision scene, those who took the missing person reports, control room staff and officers who reviewed and determined the risk assessment gradings for the reports.
It said: “We are reviewing internal communication between the police officers and staff identified as being involved, along with CCTV from relevant police stations.
“We are speaking to the national police air service about the involvement of a police helicopter during the search. We are considering the missing person policies of both Gwent police and South Wales police, along with relevant national police guidance. Investigators have met with the families to understand the contact they had with police and the situation they encountered at the collision scene.”
