Fake police officer waving 'warrant card' tried to stop woman on M1 in terrifying mirror of Sarah Everard's murder
7 May 2024, 10:07 | Updated: 7 May 2024, 10:10
A motorist was ordered to stop on a motorway by a man posing as a police officer with a 'look-alike warrant card', in a chilling incident reminiscent of the murder of Sarah Everard.
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The shocking event, which took place on the Northbound stretch of the M1 motorway, saw the motorist pulled over by the fake officer, with police now revealing they will not be opening a criminal investigation.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was left traumatised and "shaking" after the unidentified man drove up beside her at high speed in an unmarked car in March 2023.
Now, police have said they will not be investigating the incident - despite the woman reporting the man's number plate to police.
It comes as it was revealed the man in question, despite not being a serving police officer, had previously worked for the force.
Two police forces have now apologised, following a series of blunders which saw it logged as a "complaint investigation as opposed to a criminal investigation".
The woman, who spoke to the BBC following the incident, was ordered to pull over on the stretch of motorway near Leicestershire by a man waving what appeared to be a fake police warrant card.
However, the woman refused to stop for the "fake officer" who appeared "angry" behind the wheel, with the incident reminiscent of the actions of cop Wayne Couzens in the case of Sarah Everard.
Sarah Everard was raped and murdered in March 2021 by serving police officer Couzens, who used his police warrant card to falsely arrest the 33-year-old in Clapham, South London.
Read more: Chainsaw-wielding attacker runs at police down Paisley street as two officers are injured
Despite the woman reporting the man to police - even submitting his car registration plate as part of the report, the force failed to investigate or even speak to the man in question.
As part of the interview, the woman describes the driver as "a fake policeman who wanted to do me harm".
The woman admits she was speeding as part of the incident, travelling at around 80mph.
The woman describes how the man in question crossed in front of her before pulling ahead in the outside lane.
The woman then drove up behind him in the same lane, before noticing the driver wave a small black wallet out of his window - a wallet she described as having a royal-style symbol, similar to that of a police officer.
Believing it to be a police warrant card, the woman said: “Immediately, I thought he’s a policeman. I’m speeding, I should pull over.”
However, she felt too uneasy to pull over, so instead switched to the middle lane.
The man slowed down and drove in parallel to her vehicle.
“He leaned over holding the steering wheel with one hand. He was driving alongside me all the time, shouting to pull over. He was really angry. I felt really stressed," she said.
“He’s looking at me, not the road ahead and the window wasn’t open on my side, but it was on his passenger side and he’s waving the badge that I can clearly see is a black wallet with a police crest badge stuck on the outside.
"I immediately thought of Wayne Couzens and David Carrick. I was genuinely frightened. I was shaking. I was gripping the steering wheel,” she recounted.
The woman reported the man to the police as soon as she could stop, however, by that point she had entered an area overseen by Derbyshire police.
She was initially told by the force that he was a Northamptonshire police officer, however, because it was initially treated as a complaint rather than a crime, it was Northamptonshire who were responsible for dealing with it.
Shockingly, it was then revealed in the months following the incident that the man was not a working police officer.
An initial investigation revealed he had worked in a civilian role, but for a contractor and not the force.
It also revealed he had left the role months before the motorway incident took place.
The discovery saw Northamptonshire Police pass the complaint to Leicestershire Police, switching it to a crime report.
However, the delay in processing the report correctly meant the CCTV footage had by this point been deleted.
According to the woman, it took until the end of August for Leicestershire Police to log the incident as an alleged crime of impersonating a police officer.
The delays meant this case was logged at the end of the six-month limit in place for prosecuting such an offence.
In a statement, it told BBC News: “Leicestershire police takes any report of impersonation of a police officer extremely seriously. However, on this occasion our response did fall below the expected standard.”
The Professional Standards Department of Northamptonshire Police also apologised in a letter to the woman which was sent in February of this year.
It says: “Ultimately you have been given a poor service throughout the life of this investigation.
"You were left feeling distressed following a male’s actions and this should have been investigated as a crime from the outset.
"Unfortunately, early misinformation that this male was a police officer with Northamptonshire Police led to this becoming a complaint investigation as opposed to a criminal investigation.”
In the letter, the force promised to speak to the man - now 12 months on from the initial incident.
Northamptonshire Police also subsequently revealed there had been no record of the man returning his ID card following his exit from the role.
