South Wales Police faced questions this evening about the circumstances which surrounded a fatal crash which killed two teenagers. Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Bacon faced the public and reporters during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon - May 24.
The two teenagers who died in the crash in the Ely area of Cardiff that preceded widespread rioting late into the night have been named as Kyrees Sullivan, aged 16, and 15-year-old Harvey Evans. They were killed while riding an electric bike.
Read more: The wall of flowers and tributes left at scene of crash that killed teenagers
During the press conference, held at South Wales Police's headquarters in Bridgend, Ms Bacon released a timeline of events from the force's perspective:
- 17:59.40 - CCTV shows the bike travelling towards the police vehicle in Frank Road. The bike then turns around.
- 18:00.52 - The bike is followed by the police vehicle, which you have already seen on CCTV images. Blue lights or sirens were not illuminated.
- 18:01.18 - Police vehicle is at New Ely Church roundabout and travels through Archer Road, Stanway Road and Howell Road.
- 18:02.31 - Police vehicle turns onto Grand Avenue.
- 18:02.17 - 18:02.41 approximate time of the road traffic collision in Snowden Road. At the time of the collision, the police van is in Grand Avenue, half a mile away from Snowden Road.
- 18:06.59 - The police vehicle is on Cowbridge Road West when it receives information about a road traffic collision, illuminates blue lights and makes its way to the collision scene.
She told journalists there was no police vehicle in Snowden Road at the time of the collision and could not clarify why a police van appeared to be following the boys moments before they died.
A BBC reporter told Ms Bacon he had seen new footage - 30 minutes before the conference started - that appeared to contradict the timeline of events she had just given. She responded by saying she had given the timeline to the best of her knowledge.
Following a heated interaction between Ms Bacon and reporters, the conference ended with many questions still unanswered. Some reporters were unable to ask a single question. Ms Bacon left the room as reporters attempted to ask more questions about what had happened on Monday night May 22.
Here is the full Q&A from Wednesday's press conference:
Please can you confirm what this chase was about: why were you following the two boys on the bike? And what was the last point at which the police were actively following them? Listening to your timeline, it seems to be just a few seconds before the fatal collision which contradicts what we initially thought: that there was no police chase. What was the cause of the chase and at what point did you stop the chase?
I want to be as transparent and open as I can with the community of Ely so they understand what has happened. I've set out the timeline based on the factual information we have. The IOPC are conducting an independent investigation regarding whether any pursuit has taken place, so I can't fully answer your question fully today and for that I apologise.
Why did you let the line that 'speculation about a chase were false rumours' circulate in the community? Why did you let that persist for so long? It was well into Tuesday.
The situation yesterday morning was still very unclear. I have explained to you the huge amount of work that has had to be undertaken to get to the point where we are. I would have wanted to speak to our community sooner, but I haven't been able to because we haven't had that level of information.
You let the Police and Crime Commissioner [Alun Michael] go out to the media and say that these were false rumours?
The commissioner was very clear in his interviews that the situation was uncertain, but that there was no police vehicle following the e-bike at the time of the collision. As you know, Alun has a very close relationship with the communities of Ely and he wanted to give as much information as he could as soon as possible.
Do you regret that initial messaging from the police force and the Commissioner?
All I can tell you is that we have done our best in the circumstances we faced with the information we have had. We've been honest and direct. I am here today to give you the information I have now and I have still got hundreds of hours of investigation that will need to take place. I know you are not going to get every answer you want today but speaking to the communities of Ely, we are here to protect you. We absolutely understand that it was a terrible night. We need to focus on bringing those offenders to justice.
The BBC has just seen footage in the last half hour [prior to the press conference] that is timestamped 6.01pm at Stanway Road. It shows two boys on a bike coming up from Archer Road being followed by police. This seems to contradict your timeline because it seems as though the only reason the police vehicle couldn't get on [Snowden Road] at the time the crash happened is because of bollards at the end.
I've been really clear that I have given you factual and accurate information absolutely to the best of my knowledge at this moment in time. I have told you that I have hundreds of hours of CCTV. I could have waited and not come here today to talk about what we know and the timeline as we understand it, but I'm here to talk to the communities of Ely to let them know that we absolutely understand their concerns, that we are listening to what you are saying to us on their behalf about their worries, about the accuracy of what we have said. What I have told you is accurate, but there is other information. I have been really clear that we still have an awful amount of CCTV to view and of course that will be much by the IOPC [sic].
I have spoken to a lot of people in Ely who have talked about their distrust in the police over the years, the process of events and the way this timeline has been handled. This has damaged your credibility.
We are absolutely passionate about protecting the people of Ely. We have a dedicated neighbourhood policing team. We want to reach out to them and we want to work with them. It didn't go as any of us wanted on the night of the incident. It is a tragic outcome that two young men have died. We want to understand why. The situation that occurred afterwards in terms of people's behaviour is totally unacceptable and I absolutely know as you do that the people of Ely condemn that...We will work tirelessly with them to understand what we can do to support them going forward.
Have any officers in the van been questioned under caution?
No, they haven't.
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