Local backlash after police car kills teenager

May 21 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

POLICE moved to defuse tension in a North East community yesterday after a teenage girl was hit and killed by a squad car.

Officers liaised with neighbours in the area surrounding Denton Road, Scotswood, Newcastle, after 16-year-old Hayley Adamson was killed late on Monday night.

There was a hostile reaction from locals in the immediate aftermath of her death, with some people throwing bricks at police officers, and the feeling of anger continued to simmer yesterday.

Motorists were diverted from nearby Yewcroft Avenue when gangs of youngsters started throwing stones.

Northumbria Police insisted that the situation was under control and appealed for people to remain calm.

They confirmed officers will continue to talk to people in the area today to “dispel myths that may be running through the community”.

Hayley, a pupil at Sacred Heart High School in Newcastle, was due to sit her GCSE English exam yesterday.

She lived with her mother at Cedar Road in Fenham, and was described by friends as “very placid” and “one of the loveliest girls around”.

Chief Supt Paul Weir confirmed the Independent Police Complaints Commission was investigating the incident.

He said: “An investigation is now under way into all the circumstances leading to this crash. The matter has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the IPCC are carrying out an assessment.

“This is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family at this time.

“We made a number of arrests for violent disorder in the immediate aftermath of the accident last night. People were throwing bricks and the situation was volatile.

“Understandably, emotions were running high but we can’t tolerate that emotion spilling over into violence and disorder.

“We’ve met with the community twice today to reassure them of the increased police presence on the streets and to appeal for calm and to ask that the IPCC investigators are allowed to go about their work unhindered.”

He said he could not comment on the specifics of the accident while the matter was being investigated, but confirmed the car, a Volvo T5 marked patrol car, was being driven by a lone officer.

He said the officer has gone off duty and will be investigated in due course.

The collision happened between Denton Road’s junctions with Swinley Gardens and Armstrong Road at around 11.20pm on Monday.

Paramedics pronounced Miss Adamson dead at the scene.

While Miss Adamson’s mother and sister were too upset to speak to The Journal yesterday, neighbours and friends paid tribute.

Laura Henricks, the mother of Miss Adamson’s friend Rebecca, said: “Rebecca always said she was a great mate. She was very placid and lovely looking.”

A 22-year-old friend of Miss Adamson, who didn’t want to be named, said: “Everyone is absolutely devastated. I saw her out in the street about half-an-hour before it happened.

“Her sister Sarah is crying her eyes out all the time. Hayley was a bridesmaid at her wedding about 10 days ago. She was one of the loveliest girls around.”

Denton Road was closed to pedestrians and cars between Swinley Gardens and Armstrong Road yesterday while the incident was investigated.

An IPCC spokesman said a Northumbria Police driver had been responding to the activation of his vehicle’s automatic number plate recognition system.

Gary Garland IPCC Commissioner for the North East said: “Ms Adamson was crossing the road with friends when the collision occurred. Following the collision there was an incident involving a member of the public at the scene which culminated in a police officer discharging a Taser stun gun. A 23-year-old man has been arrested.”

Northumbria Police confirmed last night that the forensic tent and the police vehicle involved in the incident were removed just after 7pm. Denton Road was reopened to traffic and the community continued to lay tributes to Hayley late into the evening. Dozens of floral tributes fill the pavement and among them are soft toys and poems in memory of the teenager.