Officer given suspended prison sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving
A serving Avon and Somerset Constabulary officer who seriously injured a member of the public while responding to a police incident, has received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, after admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
PC Daniel Fortune, aged 41, had pleaded guilty at an earlier court hearing after he was charged following an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation into an incident in Bristol, on September 6, 2023.
The conviction relates to a collision on the A4 Portway, at the junction of Hung Road, in Bristol at around 11.30am.
An unmarked police car, being driven by PC Daniel Fortune, drove through a red light at speed during an emergency response and collided with a car being driven by a member of the public. The woman driver was seriously injured and the passenger in the unmarked police vehicle was also injured.
The officer was responding to an emergency activation, which was issued in relation to escaped prisoner and wanted man Daniel Khalife to ensure he did not leave the country. Khalife was later arrested in the Greater London area.
Following the incident, the force made a mandatory referral to the IOPC.
At Gloucester Crown Court on Monday (June 2), the officer was given a six-month prison term, suspended for 18 months, as well as being banned from driving for 12 months.
IOPC director Derrick Campbell said: “The serious injuries sustained by the member of the public due to PC Fortune’s manner of driving will have lasting consequences for the woman and were avoidable.
“The officer is a trained police driver. While driving guidance permits officers to pass through red lights and travel above the speed limit where necessary in the circumstances, an officer’s manner of driving shouldn’t endanger the safety of other road users.
“PC Fortune admitted driving an unmarked police car dangerously when he didn’t brake or slow down and passed through a red light at nearly 70mph. By the time he saw the other vehicle, he was travelling too fast to avoid a collision.”
Detective Superintendent Larisa Hunt, head of the Professional Standards Department at Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said: “PC Fortune has admitted a serious driving offence for which he’s now been sentenced.
“The collision left a woman with very serious injuries from which she’s still recovering and our thoughts are with her.
“Police officers are expected at all times to follow national and local guidance, and their training, when responding to emergency incidents.
“Now the criminal proceedings have concluded, an accelerated misconduct hearing will be held later this month.”