Fatal crash caused by 'speed, alcohol and drugs'

A driver who crashed his car into a tree while being followed by police died as a result of an accident caused by his driving speed, as well as the influence of alcohol and cannabis, a jury has found.

Muhammad Qasim died of "catastrophic" head injuries at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, after his car failed to negotiate a left-hand bend, crashing into a tree on Island Road, in Handsworth, Birmingham.

The 29-year-old was not wearing his seatbelt at the time and was ejected from the vehicle.

The jury at Mr Qasim's inquest found that he was aware of PC Paul Withers following him in his marked police vehicle in the early hours of 2 October 2023 before he lost control of his BMW and crashed.

He was one-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit and had recently used cannabis, with a surviving passenger telling police Mr Qasim had been "mashed" in the hours prior to the crash having drunk vodka.

PC Withers told the inquest that Mr Qasim appeared to have control of his vehicle but it came to his attention on the 30mph Church Lane because it was speeding, leading to him informing the control room over the radio that the BMW was "absolutely flying".

The PC, who was not trained to carry out police pursuits, told the inquest he only followed the BMW to get intelligence on the car.

Senior coroner Louise Hunt said one of the aims of the inquest was to examine whether the events amounted to a police pursuit and if so, if it was compliant with West Midlands Police practice standards and general guidance.

Before they returned a conclusion of road traffic accident, Mrs Hunt told the jury they should not record that there was a police pursuit.

This was because two independent police driving experts said they had no criticism of PC Withers' driving, that he was "entitled" to follow the car and that he had not indicated to Mr Qasim that he wanted him to stop and did not have his blue lights on.

Referring to the final loop both Mr Qasim and PC Withers made before continuing along Island Road, the jury said: "At this point, Qasim and the occupants of the vehicle were aware the police vehicle was behind them and Qasim accelerated quickly to gain distance between his vehicle and the police vehicle with the intention of abandoning the vehicle."

The jury said Mr Qasim accelerated out of sight of the police vehicle, before failing to negotiate the left-hand bend and losing control of the vehicle.

"The way Qasim was driving had also been influenced by the presence of the police vehicle," they said.

Mrs Hunt said she would be creating a prevention of future deaths report in relation to two issues.

She said she would write to the College of Policing, who provide guidance on pursuits to police forces, to ask them to "clarify how the paragraph on spontaneous pursuit is applied" by officers.

The coroner also said she would write to the Independent Office for Police Conduct in relation to the lack of a forensic collision report following the crash and what investigative responsibilities continued when investigating conduct in fatal incidents.

Addressing Mr Qasim's father in the courtroom and his sisters who listened to proceedings online, she said: "Thank you for your patience, it must have brought back tragic memories.

"Please do look after yourselves, it has been a very difficult time for you all."

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.