Police cleared over Enfield Lock train death (From Enfield Independent)

Police cleared over Enfield Lock train death

11:11am Friday 23rd September 2011 in News By Tristan Kirk

POLICE officers involved in a chase which ended when a man was hit by a train have been cleared of wrongdoing.

Twenty-year-old Mircea Adam jumped over the level-crossing barriers in Ordnance Road On August 9 last year and was hit by a high-speed train. He died instantly.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has cleared the Acting Special Sergeant and two Special Constables who pursued the car carrying Mr Adam prior to his death.

The panel ruled there is “no evidence of misconduct following its investigation into a police pursuit”.

The officers had pulled over a silver Mercedes, in which Mr Adam was a passenger, in Hertford Road.

The car was registered to a woman in Manchester and had been taken off the road previously for having no insurance.

However, the driver of the Mercedes got out of the car and looked at officers before getting back in and speeding off.

The Acting Sergeant gave chase, but the Mercedes sped through a red light at the level-crossing barriers at Enfield Lock Railway Station and three men got out of a Mercedes.

Mr Adam, a father-of-three from Rochestown, in County Cork, who was visiting Enfield and due to leave the following day, jumped over the barrier and was hit by the train.

IPCC Commissioner Mike Franklin said: “We concluded that the Acting Special Sergeant was qualified to initiate a pursuit and was driving a suitable vehicle to do so.

“The information he received relating to the vehicle’s history and the actions of the driver could be considered to justify the initial pursuit.

“The police were some distance behind the suspect vehicle when the men made off.

“Considering all of these things, we do not believe there is any evidence of misconduct on the part of the officers involved.”