Speeding Met cop weeps as he is spared jail for killing charity worker on zebra crossing
4 February 2022, 16:16
A Metropolitan Police officer killed a "talented" and "ambitious" charity worker after crashing into him while driving at three times the speed limit.
PC Daniel Francis, 33, killed earth scientist Andrew MacIntyre Brown, 23, as he crossed a road in West London in 2019.
The officer was speeding at over 60mph without his blue lights or siren in an attempt to catch up with a car after seeing a firework thrown out the window at a pedestrian.
Mr Brown and a 16-year-old boy, who made a full recovery, were walking on an illuminated crossing when Francis braked and swerved his vehicle.
He was travelling too fast to stop.
Mr Brown's mother, Isabel Brown, who spoke tearfully from behind a screen in court said her son was a "unique combination of clever, kind and artistic".
She said: "He had plans, he had a future and this has been taken away from him.
"He was 23 years of age.
"We will miss him forever. We will be heartbroken forever."
Francis wept in court as he was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.
Prosecutor Michael Shaw said Francis and two colleagues were working late when the crash happened early on November 1, 2019 on Whitton Road, Hounslow.
Mr Shaw said: "The officers observed a firework being thrown from a dark-coloured vehicle towards a pedestrian."
Francis said in a police interview he avoided switching on his lights and siren at the risk of the car speeding up.
Mr Shaw added: "During the collision, Mr Brown had come into contact with the windscreen and he suffered a severe head injury."
Mr Brown, who had an earth science degree from the University of Glasgow, had hopes of starting a new job at the Ministry of Defence in London.
Mr Justice Hilliard said "we are all the poorer for his passing" and that no sentence could "undo or put right" what happened.
Edmund Gritt, representing Francis, issued an apology on his behalf.
He said: "PC Francis became a police officer in order to protect the public.
"On November 1 2019 he followed the Nissan in accordance with his duties as a police officer to protect the public.
"That was what he was trying to achieve.
"But what he brought about in a matter of seconds was the complete opposite."
In addition to the suspended sentence, Francis was ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation.
He was also banned from driving for 18 months.
Simon Ringrose, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Although PC Francis has now been sentenced for this offence I am acutely aware that this can never reflect the devastating impact that Andrew's death has had on his family and friends.
"I do however hope that the guilty plea and sentence offer some resolution to this aspect of this tragic case."
