Court Return A Not Guilty Verdict To Traffic Officer Involved In Fatal Accident

PC Stewart Chalmers of Sussex Police has been found 'not guilty' of a second charge against him in relation to the fatal accident of February 2009 in which his vehicle collided into a young man.

Having finished his shift as a traffic officer, PC Chalmers was driving home in his Lotus Sports car when he lost control of the vehicle, killing 20-year-old Luke Bland and seriously injuring Mr Bland's friend, 21-year-old Ben Blackford. The two men were waiting on the side of the road with their Peugeot after it had skidded into a hedge. The driver of the Peugeot, Ben Blackford, was found to be over the legal limit four hours after the incident and was also found to have traces of cocaine in his system. It was decided that it would not be in the public interest to bring charges against him due to the extent of his injuries.

PC Chalmers appeared before the court last July to answer a charge of causing death by careless driving. PC Chalmers explained to the court that he believed he was heading towards the Peugeot, which he assumed was still on the road, so steered left, and this is when he felt his tyres spin and lost control. He skidded into the two men who were thrown into the air and Mr Bland died from head injuries on impact.

The prosecution alleged that PC Chalmers said at the scene that he thought he might have been speeding at 55mph in a 50mph limit, but he reportedly told police that he did not know what speed he was doing. Experts were unable to analyse the tyre tracks at the scene for evidence of speed as they were unable to distinguish between the marks from the two different cars.

The court heard that the vehicle skidded after hitting a sheet of ice that had been caused by a leaking water main. It was found that PC Chalmers had not been driving carelessly on the unlit country road and was therefore found not guilty. If he had been convicted then he would have faced a possible prison sentence.

This month, the prosecution dropped the second charge against PC Chalmers, which was for having defective tyres on the night of the incident. This was being charged separately as there was no evidence that it contributed to the accident. If he had been convicted of that offence he would have had his driving licence endorsed with penalty points and would have had to have paid a fine.

This marks the end of the criminal investigation surrounding the death of Mr Bland.

Blake Lapthorn's Motoring Offences team has seen the difficulties that can be encountered when prosecuting an individual for an offence involving alleged defective tyres.

Barry Culshaw, from the firm's team, was recently consulted by S with regard to an allegation that he had used a tri-axle trailer when the middle offside wheel was fitted with a tyre that had the ply or cord exposed. The perceived defect was detected by the police following a road traffic accident in which the trailer was involved. Barry advised S to obtain a report from a tyre specialist who concluded that the defect might have been missed on a walk-round inspection as it was located on the inside edge of the tyre. However, the tyre specialist concluded that a more likely explanation was that the defect was caused during the accident itself.

Having considered Barry's representations, the Crown Prosecution Service(CPS) decided to discontinue the case on the basis that there was 'not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction'. S's decision to contest the matter and to enter a not guilty plea was, therefore, vindicated. S also retained his clean driving licence. Had the case not been discontinued and had S been convicted at trial he would have faced endorsement of his driving licence with three penalty points, a fine and a costs order in favour of the CPS.