Inquest into the Death of Ms B (Name Subject to Suppression Order)
Deceased
Ms B
Demographics
40y, female
Date of death
2019-05-25
Finding date
2022-04-13
Cause of death
effects of fire including smoke inhalation, thermal injuries and incineration
AI-generated summary
Ms B, aged 40, died when a stolen Ferrari she was a passenger in collided with a steel barrier and caught fire following a police pursuit incident on 25 May 2019 in North Perth, WA. The driver (an offender) fled from police whilst intoxicated with methylamphetamine, entered the intersection against a red light at high speed, lost control, and the vehicle caught fire, with Ms B trapped inside. Two police officers involved were found to have breached emergency driving policy: Officer Lavers failed to activate emergency lights and siren before engaging in evade police intercept driving, and Officer Russell failed to obtain permission from the Police Operations Centre before engaging in Response Driving Priority 2 and ensure the siren (not just lights) was activated. However, the coroner concluded these policy breaches did not cause or contribute to the crash; responsibility rested solely with the intoxicated offender's grossly irresponsible and dangerous driving of an unfamiliar stolen vehicle.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- intoxication of driver with methylamphetamine
- driver's dangerous and reckless operation of stolen unfamiliar vehicle
- driver entering intersection against red light at high speed
- driver's grossly irresponsible disregard for life of passenger and other road users
- police officer failure to activate emergency lights before engaging in intercept driving
- police officer failure to activate siren during response driving
- police officer failure to obtain radio permission before engaging in response driving priority 2
Coroner's recommendations
- That for IAU investigations involving a fatality that may be the subject of a mandatory inquest under section 22(1)(b) of the Coroners Act 1996 (WA), the IAU always obtains a report or opinion from a relevant policy expert, unless there are exceptional reasons not to do so
- That for IAU investigations involving a fatality that may be the subject of a mandatory inquest under section 22(1)(b) of the Coroners Act 1996 (WA), the IAU ensures all subject officers are compulsorily interviewed (whether or not they have already provided statements to another section of the WA Police Force), unless there are exceptional reasons not to do so
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