Met officer charged in connection with fatal Penge crash

Met Police officer PC Edward Welch, 32, faces four charges, including two counts of causing death by dangerous driving after Makayah McDermott and Rozanne Cooper were killed in a police chase nearly five years ago.

Joshua Dobby - the estranged son of a millionaire - ploughed into talented 10-year-old Makayah and his aunt Ms Cooper, 34, after losing control of the stolen Ford Focus while being chased by police in August 2016.

He drove four times over the speed limit of 20mph, the wrong way down a one way street and was still travelling at 50mph as he mounted the kerb.

Ms Cooper had been walking down the busy road in Penge with her daughter Eva, Makayah and his older twin sisters Niyah and Yahla, 13, when the car ploughed into them.

The three girls were taken to hospital for their injuries but survived the crash.

Read more: Car thief Joshua Dobby pleads guilty to manslaughter

Dobby stole the car after finding the keys in the street and was on his way to sell it to buy drugs, the Old Bailey heard when he was jailed for 12 years in February 2017.

Police abandoned their chase as he drove at 80mph through red lights and through a 30mph zone at 70mph in Penge, the court was told.

Tributes were left at the scene of the tragic incident

Eight months after Dobby was jailed, the police watchdog, the IPCC not called the IOPC, announced an investigation was being launched and that the two officers involved in the chase could face criminal charges.

The Crown Prosecution Service announced this week that PC Welch was charged with causing death by dangerous driving over the deaths of Makayah and Ms Cooper.

PC Welch was the driver of a marked police car that pursued the vehicle driven by Dobby which crashed into Makayah and Ms Cooper.

Read more: Man charged after police chase car crash killed boy and aunt in Penge

The 32-year-old officer faces four charges, including two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, one count of causing injury by dangerous driving and one count of dangerous driving. 

A second PC who was with PC Welch has not been charged as the CPS concluded there was no legal basis for prosecution.

A spokesman said: "The CPS has authorised charging PC Edward Welch, an officer from the Metropolitan Police, with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and dangerous driving on August 31, 2016, in Penge, south east London.

Friends and relatives of the victims of the Penge crash at the Old Bailey in 2017

"A second PC who was with PC Welch has not been charged as the CPS concluded the legal test for a prosecution was not met for any alleged offences.

"The CPS reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant are active and that he has a right to a fair trial."

Makayah had been given leading roles in productions at his south London theatre school and just weeks before his death auditioned for a part in a major new television series.

Read more: Tributes to 'beautiful boy' and aunt killed in police car chase crash 

His 13-year-old twin sisters also appeared in a string of national advertising campaigns.

The three siblings all attended the Pop School and Stage Academy (PSSA) in Beckenham, and Makayah starred in a production of Wizard of Oz spin-off The Wiz not long before he died, in which his two sisters also appeared.

The young star had also performed at nearby Catford’s Broadway Theatre.

 

After the accident, around 20 passers-by were said to have rushed to lift the car in order for  the twins to crawl free.

After pleading guilty, Dobby was jailed for 12 years concurrently after admitting two counts of manslaughter as well as three years and four months in prison for causing serious injury by dangerous driving on August 31, 2016, and 16 months for dangerous driving five days earlier.

He was also banned from driving for 15 years and will have to retake a driving test.

Welch's court date and venue for his first appearance has not yet been fixed, the CPS said.