The Independent Office for Police Conduct has confirmed it will investigate the circumstances around a crash in Ely, Cardiff, on Monday which killed two teenagers. CCTV footage has emerged of a police vehicle following a bike prior to the incident.
South Wales Police confirmed in a press conference on Tuesday that it had referred itself to the police watchdog. Police said they were called to reports of a crash in Snowden Road at 6pm on Monday night. On Tuesday, CCTV from a house in the area shows a bike being followed by a police vehicle at 5.59pm. This is what we know about the incident and the circumstances around it.
South Wales Police had said that the collision had "already occurred" when officers arrived. Addressing the emergence of the video, Chief Superintendent Martyn Stone said that CCTV footage showing an electric bike being followed by a police van had emerged and would "form part of the investigation". He appealed for anyone with any more footage to get in touch.
On Tuesday afternoon, the boys were named locally as Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and 15-year-old Harvey Evans. Friends of the two boys, who were from the Ely area, said they were riding a Sur-Ron electric bike without helmets when they died. They said their families were desperate for further information from the police about what happened.
The video police are now investigating is time-stamped to 5.59pm on Monday in Frank Road, Ely, around 900m away from the site of the suspected crash. South Wales police and crime commissioner Alun Michael said on Tuesday there had been no police chase before the crash, a statement he repeated on Wednesday morning. The IOPC has now said that following a referral from South Wales Police it has decided to independently investigate the incident. It said the decision to investigate follows a review of the information received to date.
The IOPC said it will be examining any interaction between the police and the boys. IOPC director David Ford said: “First and foremost our thoughts and sympathies go out to the families and friends of the two boys who sadly lost their lives on Monday evening in Ely. It is important that we independently investigate the circumstances leading up to this tragic event. This incident and the events that followed have, understandably, attracted significant interest and public concern. It is important that we thoroughly and independently investigate this matter, in order to establish the full facts and circumstances of exactly what happened on Monday.”
