Police Sergeant Commended for Investigation into Hammersmith Hit and Run
PS John Harrison's 'exceptional' skills led to jail sentence for driver who killed pensioner
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Sgt John Harrison (left) with AC Steve House
On 4 March 2017, an 81 year-old man was knocked down by a speeding car as he tried to cross a pedestrian crossing on Hammersmith Road at its junction with Edith Road, W14.
The car did not stop at the scene, and the elderly pedestrian was taken to a central London hospital where he died early in the morning of Sunday 5 March.
Police say PS Harrison attended the scene and carried out a complex and difficult investigation as there was virtually no direct evidence identifying the driver. He rallied his team to identify and locate the driver, especially as the CCTV available did not reveal an index number.
He obtained ANPR - Automatic Number Plate Recognition - camera records to pinpoint the index number and CCTV recordings from buses. PS Harrison also asked the Territorial Support Group to carry out a street search of a one mile radius of the incident. Within three hours, the vehicle was found abandoned without index plates and a potential suspect identified.
Despite the suspect blaming the victim, the investigation revealed that the suspect was driving at more than 60mph as he approached the crossing, reducing to 51mph as he passed through and accelerated away at 79mph. The speed limit was 30mph.
Thanks to the meticulous case presented to the Crown Prosecution Service, including 71 witness statements, a DVD compilation of CCTV footage and an exceptional storyboard for use in court, the 21 year-old suspect pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to six years and four months imprisonment on Friday, 27 April.
PS Harrison demonstrated exceptional leadership, organisational skills and initiative, which led to the early tracing of the vehicle and identification of the perpetrator and a successful prosecution.
The Livia Awards were established in 1998 by George and Giulietta Galli-Atkinson following the death of their daughter Livia, who was killed by a driver who mounted the pavement where she was walking.
Endorsed by the Prime Minister and the Met Commissioner, the award is made annually to Roads and Transport Policing Command officers judged to have provided the most meritorious service to road death investigation, either in a specific case, or sustained through several investigations and who has provided the family of a road crash victim with outstanding commitment.
Detective Constable Charlie Pulling, who worked in the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit based at Alperton Traffic Garage, Brent was this year's winner.
DC Pulling - who joined the Met in 2004 - was unanimously judged the outstanding candidate for his investigation of a road traffic collision on 26 August 2016 which resulted in serious injury to a 59-year-old man and his two-year-old grandson in Harrow.
The ceremony was cross-party, hosted by Mark Pawsey MP, Stephen Twigg MP and The Rt Hon Sir Edwards Davey FRSA MP, and the awards were presented by The Baroness Newlove of Warrington.
Commander Kyle Gordon, said: "I'm extremely proud to be able to congratulate this year's winners of the Livia Awards, now enjoying an incredible twentieth year of recognising the outstanding contributions made by Road Collision Investigation officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command."
November 23, 2018
March 9, 2017