The 33-year-old Metropolitan Police officer was fired by the force without warning, after serious charges were proved for a misdemeanor against him. He has admitted that he caused the death of a 23-year-old from careless driving. Earth scientist Andrew MacIntyre Brown was crossing the road in west London on November 1, 2019. Francis reached speeds of 61 mph in a speed limit of 20 mph before hitting Brown. READ NEXT – Abusive Surrey woman calls train passengers ‘terrorists’ Apart from not showing his blue lights, Francis did not have sirens on his police car at the time of the crash. Following a hearing on Wednesday (April 13th), he was also added to the list of those excluded from the police, which means that he can no longer serve as a force. Francis was also sentenced in Old Bailey to 12 months in prison, but suspended for two years, in February.
What happened?
Francis was working late with two of his colleagues on a marked emergency vehicle on Whitton Road in Hounslow when a fireworks display was fired from a vehicle. A Peugeot car, driven by Francisco, accelerated after Nissan and tried to close the gap and identify the license plate. The vehicle reached speeds of up to 61 mph in the 20 mph zone and Francis decided not to turn on his blue lights and sirens as he followed the suspicious vehicle. Mr. Brown, originally from Glasgow, and another man were on a marked lighted pedestrian crossing, causing Francis to brake and deviate. Francis underwent chest compressions before Mr Brown, who suffered a serious head injury, was taken to St George Hospital in south London where he died on 5 November 2019. The second injured man was not seriously injured and has since made a full recovery. In a police interview, Francis said he did not want to alert the suspect by turning on his lights and siren and risking speeding.
“Conflict was unfortunately inevitable”
Sal Naseem, regional director of the Independent Police Behavior Bureau, said: “After this week’s hearing, I express my sincere condolences again to the family of Andrew MacIntyre Brown at this time. The public expects the police to respond immediately to the incidents, but are called upon to take into account the safety of other road users.
“Evidence showed that PC Francis did not pay enough attention to other road users when driving along this section of road. The nature of his driving was more dangerous than necessary and meant that a collision was unfortunately inevitable.”
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