Police driving expert has ‘no criticism’ of officer’s driving skills after car he was following crashed into tree, killing driver
20 June 2025, 17:03
A police driving expert has told an inquest he has "no criticism" of an officer's standard of driving before a car he was following crashed into a tree, killing the driver.
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Muhammad Qasim's BMW was being followed by a marked police car on Island Road in Handsworth, West Midlands, when he failed to negotiate a left-hand bend and crashed into a tree on a central reservation in the early hours of October 2, 2023.
Qasim told his passengers to "jump out the car and run" seconds before he crashed, the inquest heard.
The 29-year-old died of "catastrophic" head injuries in hospital hours after the collision and a jury inquest at Birmingham Coroners Court will determine whether the officer who was driving, Pc Paul Withers, was in pursuit of Mr Qasim's car at the time.
West Midlands Police officer Pc Withers, who was not trained to carry out pursuits, said he only followed the car to get its number plate so checks could be run on the police database.
Mr Qasim's vehicle had come to the attention of Pc Withers minutes earlier when it was travelling over the 30mph speed limit on nearby Church Lane, and the officer decided to follow it to "gain intelligence", he told the inquest.
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The hearing was told Mr Qasim was over the drink-drive limit, had recently used cannabis and was not wearing his seat-belt at the time of the collision.
The jury will examine the events leading up to the collision, the manner of driving of the officer and Mr Qasim, whether the events amounted to a police pursuit and if so, if it was compliant with West Midlands Police practice standards and general guidance, and whether there is any relevance to the manner of the driving of the police officer and Mr Qasim to the causation of his death.
Giving evidence at the inquest on Friday, independent police driving expert Jonathan Little, who is the chief driving instructor for Staffordshire Police, said he offered no criticism of the way Pc Withers had driven before the collision occurred.
He said: "I have no criticism of the driving at all. Everything that I have seen suggests it is in accordance with the guidance on standard training."
Mr Little and fellow expert Paul Trowman, the chief driving instructor for West Midlands Police, both agreed the collision would, on the balance of probabilities, have happened regardless of the officer's actions.
Mr Trowman said: "My view is that Mr Qasim took too much speed around the bend and the contributory factors would probably be alcohol and drugs."
Mr Little added: "It would have been a combination of all three on my part. The contributing factors would have been the alcohol and drugs."
Mr Trowman, who told the inquest he did not personally provide standard response grade driver training to Pc Withers, confirmed the officer had completed his initial training in August 2009, then returned for refresher training in August 2015 and November 2020, as per the requirements for officers.
The inquest continues.
