Case study - 9 year wait for inquest and fight for IPCC

Lewis Dean Johnson, died on 9 February 2016 as a result of a moped accident whilst being pursued by the Metropolitan Police. His pillion passenger was badly injured. Lewis was 18 when he died.

Lewis had been a talented footballer, playing as a schoolboy for Crystal Palace FC youth academy. The time that this inquest has taken to be resolved and the numerous obstacles placed in her way, has caused Lewis’s mother Ann and his family considerable additional distress.

We advised and represented Lewis' family. His story can also be found in a Guardian newspaper write up.

The Inquest

An inquest was opened in February 2016. However his mother Ann Torpey has fought a 9-year battle to properly understand the complete circumstances in which her son came to his death. This included waiting for a detailed investigation by the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Comission), successfully judicially reviewing a CPS decision not to charge the principle officer, the prosecution of the principle officer and misconduct procedures involving a number of officers, culminating with her challenging the Coroner’s decision not to resume this inquest, under threat of a judicial review .

The jury heard evidence that neither the driver of the police car, nor the radio operator had read the relevant pursuit policies, and they were not aware that they were not permitted by these policies to pursue motorcycles.

Lewis’s collided with a traffic light pole Clapton Common A107, near the junction with Castlewood Road, as a result of a box van moving to the nearside of the road in response to the presence of the police vehicle on its offside, forcing the moped on to the pavement. The jury found that pursuing police car had caused other road users to pull to the side of the road in a similar way prior to the accident.

Jury findings

On 22 May 2025 following a 4-week inquest at Bow Coroner’s Court London a jury returned a narrative which concluded that at times during the pursuit the police vehicle had driven too close to Lewis’s moped, putting additional pressure on Lewis and as a result affecting his decision making. They found that the driver of the police vehicle was not qualified to pursue a motorcycle and as a result the pursuit was not terminated at the earliest opportunity, as it should have been.

The jury found that the pursuit of Lewis’s moped took place because of a lack of knowledge of police pursuit policies not only on the part of the driver and radio operator of the police vehicle but also by the police control room staff. This failure was, in part due to the Metropolitan Police not implementing, disseminating and training relevant staff on these policies effectively.