UK - A POLICE motorcyclist has defended pursuing an untaxed biker before a fatal crash on the grounds he could have been an "armed robber".
PC Eric Moorfield, who is based with a road crime team in Stafford, tried to stop 25-year-old Robert Shaw from Driffield Close, Bentilee, on June 21, 2005.
Mr Shaw, below, rode off towards Bucknall followed by PC Moorfield and crashed his Kawasaki Ninja bicycle outside the Co-op in Werrington Road.
The jury inquest into his death, which started on Monday, continued at Hanley Town Hall yesterday.
After referring to the police rules governing pursuits, Coroner Ian Smith said: "The thing that weighs most heavily on my mind is proportionality and risk. We are not dealing here with someone who has been involved in robbery or a shooting.
"Is not having an excise licence proportionate to pursuing that vehicle over the distance involved? "
PC Moorfield replied: "He may have committed a robbery around the corner, he may have been involved in the serious injury of a person. I do not know. Nobody has got back to me on the radio."
He added: "The initial contact was because his tax disc was out-of-date. I continued to pursue him because he failed to stop."
PC Moorfield said the pursuit lasted two minutes and his motorcycle never went faster than 60 mph.
He said at no point did he think the situation was dangerous enough to call off the pursuit until he reached Werrington Road.
He said: "He would go faster and then slower. Each time he went slower, it was like he was assessing the situation in front of him. Mr Shaw was a very safe rider."
PC Moorfield told jurors he managed to read Mr Shaw's tax disc was out-of-date when he spotted him on Lichfield Street, Hanley, because he had good eyesight.
He said he had held an advanced police driving licence for nine years at the time of the accident and also rode motorbikes for pleasure clocking up "thousands of miles a year".
The inquest heard PC Moorfield had arrested Mr Shaw the previous year, but he said did not recognise him because he was wearing a helmet.
Asked why he thought Mr Shaw had lost control of his bicycle outside the Co-op, PC Moorfield said: "As you approach the bend, you have to be doing the correct speed, in the correct gear and the correct position to negotiate the bend. The only thing I can think is possible is that he dropped down two gears and did not have time to counter-steer and lost control."
Pc Moorfield told the inquest he radioed for an ambulance as soon as Mr Shaw hit the kerb.
Robert's father Ian Shaw questioned PC Moorfield about two witnesses statements which said there had been two "near miss" accidents in the course of the pursuit. Mr Shaw asked: "If there is a near miss, would that not be classified as dangerous?"
PC Moorfield said: "If there was a near miss that would have been classified as dangerous. But I did not see it."
Mr Shaw asked: "You say that you and him weaved through traffic. Is that not dangerous? You both went through a red light. Is that not dangerous?"
PC Moorfield replied: "You can go through a red light safely."
The inquest will continue on Monday.
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