Death-crash car ‘went through red traffic light’

A TRAFFIC officer decided to chase a car that ended up crashing and killing three people because he saw it go through a red light.

PC Daniel Byrne was on patrol in Lees Road close to Mumps roundabout on November 16, 2008, when he saw the Vauxhall Vectra, which came from the direction of Huddersfield Road, fail to stop at traffic lights.He immediately activated his blue lights in an attempt to get the driver to stop.

The Vauxhall Vectra stopped close to Mumps train station but sped off as soon as PC Byrne got out of his liveried police car.

This incident sparked a police chase that ended in Middleton Road, Chadderton, when the car crashed into a garden wall and flipped on to its roof.

Paul Bunting (30), Christopher Morrison (23) and 19-year-old mum of one Cassie Fox died at the scene. Sole survivor Claire Matthews (20) told an Oldham inquest on Monday that she cannot remember a single thing about the night of the incident.

On the second of a four-day inquest, PC Byrne, who at his own request gave evidence from behind a screen, told the jury that he was a pursuit-trained advanced police driver.

He said he had wanted to talk to the driver of the Vauxhall Vectra to find out why the car had been driven through a red light and determine whether they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The jury was shown footage of the pursuit recorded by the in-car camera from PC Byrne’s vehicle, a high-powered BMW.

He said that when the car sped off, he had relayed the registration number to the police control room in a bid to get more information about the vehicle and the registered owner before setting off in pursuit.

Proceeding