Officer suffers head injuries in late night crash

Nov 13 2009 by Joanne Butcher, The Journal

A POLICE officer who crashed his car while responding to an emergency call was still being treated in hospital yesterday.

The 41-year-old officer, from Durham Constabulary, was on his way to an incident when he hit two parked cars just off the A177.

Police are still investigating the crash, but it appears the officer somehow lost control of his marked Vauxhall Astra and spun across the main road in Shincliffe Village, County Durham.

His vehicle hit the two cars parked on the turn-off near to the Seven Stars pub.

One of the cars, a Citroen, was pushed into a wall by the force of the impact and written off. The other, a black Range Rover, was also badly damaged.

Both were empty at the time and no one else was hurt in the crash, which happened at around 11.45pm on Wednesday night.

Former care assistant Julie Shepherd, 51, lives just across the road and was one of the first on the scene. “We heard an almighty bang, just before midnight,” she said. “We ran straight out.

“His car looked like it had spun right round, it was facing back down the road. My neighbours’ car had been pushed right into the wall. “

Julie, who worked at the University Hospital of North Durham for many years, looked after the victim until an ambulance arrived.

“He was in an awful state, poor guy. He had been thrown across the car, his head was right in the passenger footwell.

“I was telling him not to move, but as he started to come round he pulled himself up. It looked like he had lost a lot of blood, he clearly had quite bad head injuries.

“I sat with him and tried to keep him talking until the ambulance got there. He said he lived in Durham and was going on a job when it happened. He looked terrible.” Fire crews had to cut the police officer out of his mangled car before he was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham with serious head injuries.

Yesterday, he was due to undergo an operation. His condition, though serious, was not thought to be life-threatening.

Shincliffe resident, Andrea Hall, a 53-year-old assembly operator, also saw the drama.

“I heard a big bang, and I thought maybe it was a lorry going over the loose manhole cover up the road. Then I heard voices and looked out.

“It was terrible, the damage looked really bad. They said he was in a bad way. I just hope he comes through.”

Police have now launched an investigation into how the accident happened.

The A177 was closed until around 3.30am on Thursday, while police scoured the scene for clues and did skid tests.

The road was still strewn with wreckage from the damaged vehicles yesterday, with the red spray paint used by the police to mark the spot where the crash took place still visible.