UPDATE: |GMP driver ‘acted appropriately’ before routine stop ended in death of woman, 20 News

The IOPC has ruled out any disciplinary proceedings or criminal offences on the part of officers involved

The police watchdog has ruled out any disciplinary proceedings or criminal offences on the part of officers after the death of a young woman following a pursuit.

Xena Georgiou, 20 and from Burnage, died after suddenly speeding off from a routine police stop in December, 2023. She was with two friends driving a BMW and ‘immediately compiled’ during a conversation with police after officers pulled the car over on Washway Road in Sale, Trafford, an inquest heard.

A system search showed the car was uninsured and registered outside the Greater Manchester area. Xena gave her mother’s name and a ‘date of birth that was obviously not hers’, the inquest jury was told, then showed the officers a screenshot of temporary insurance cover featuring her mother’s details.

Officers then asked her to step into their car for a fingerprint scan, and it was at that point that the BMW suddenly ‘screeched away’.

One officer could be heard to say ‘what’s she doing?’ before the pursuit began, during which Xena ran a red light. She then lost control on a bend on Marsland Road, colliding with a parked car. She was taken to hospital, but nothing could be done to save her.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has now released a statement after the inquest jury returned a conclusion of ‘road traffic collision’. The pursuit lasted just under two minutes and the coroner’s court heard how at the time of the crash, Xena was likely to have been driving at speeds exceeding ’77 mph’.

The IOPC, which launched an investigation after the tragedy, said there was ‘no indication any police officer had behaved in a manner that would justify the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or committed a criminal offence’.

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But the watchdog said it ‘would be appropriate for the police driver to undertake reflective practice and address performance issues informally via the individual’s line management’. “The performance issue specifically relates to the speed the officer passed through a red light while approaching the junction from Hope Road and Brooklands Road during the pursuit,” said a spokesperson.

“Our investigation looked at whether the officers’ actions and decisions were appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances, whether the pursuit was conducted in line with the law and national and local policy and the contact police had with the occupants of the BMW, in the immediate aftermath of the collision, including any first aid administered.

“Analysis of the data indicated the police vehicle reached a top speed of 77mph on Marsland Road, which has a 30mph speed limit, averaging between 50mph and 70mph. While it is not possible to know the exact speeds Ms Georgiou was travelling at during the pursuit, it would be likely she was driving at least at these speeds or faster.”

“The officer driving activated the emergency warning equipment throughout the periods of high speeds and kept a distance of approximately one to three car lengths behind the BMW throughout.”

The IOPC said the police officer driving ‘acted appropriately’.

IOPC Director Amanda Rowe said: “This was a tragic incident in which a young woman lost her life and our thoughts remain with her family, friends and all those affected. Our investigation was independent of the police and aimed to understand events leading up to the collision.

“We decided the officer should work with their supervisor to reflect on the pursuit and potentially influence their decision making in the future. The evidence we gathered was provided to the coroner to assist with the inquest proceedings, which we hope has helped answer some of the families’ questions about that day.”

The inquest was told the BMW was bought at a police auction in Doncaster a week earlier, after Xena persuaded her mother to buy it for her.

Her mother told the court that she had given her daughter money to cover the insurance in her name, but Xena ‘had not insured the car’. The inquest jury also heard Xena ‘had been in touch with her friends to ask them to take out insurance on her behalf’ and that her failure to get cover ‘may be the reason why she drove away’.