An inquest revealed that police did not engage in a pursuit before a tragic crash involving a 15-year-old boy on an electric motorcycle
Salford: So, there was this inquest about a 15-year-old named Saul Cookson who tragically died in a crash. The Greater Manchester Police said they didn’t actually pursue him before the accident. Saul was riding an electric motorcycle when two officers spotted him on June 8, 2023.
The inquest took place at Bolton Crown Court, where they looked into what happened just before Saul collided with an ambulance. They reviewed CCTV and dashcam footage, which showed Saul on the bike. The police were interested because these bikes often get linked to illegal stuff and didn’t have a registration number.
The officers, who had to stay anonymous for operational reasons, claimed they didn’t think they were in a pursuit. According to their guidelines, a pursuit starts only when a driver ignores a request to stop, like when the siren goes off or the lights flash.
Since they didn’t ask Saul to pull over, they felt their actions didn’t count as a pursuit. They followed him in their marked car until he slipped through some bollards and crashed into the ambulance. After the crash, both the officer and the paramedics rushed to help him.
The jury agreed with the officers’ explanation and concluded that, by police rules, there was no pursuit. They also said the crash was unavoidable. Sadly, Saul died from multiple traumatic injuries, and the jury ruled it a road traffic collision.
People laid flowers at the crash site to pay their respects. After the jury shared their findings, they expressed their condolences to Saul’s family and thanked the police and ambulance teams for their efforts.
Saul was born on August 23, 2007, in Salford and passed away on June 8, 2023, at just 15 years old. Coroner Mike Pemberton thanked the jury for their work and offered his heartfelt condolences to Saul’s family.
