A Police Ombudsman investigation has found that police failed to send a file to the Public Prosecution Service following a traffic collision which caused injuries to a pedestrian and led to the death of her dog.

The collision happened at about 5pm on 17 December 2008 on the Belmont Road in Antrim.

In November 2011, after learning that no one was to be prosecuted, the pedestrian lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman’s Office alleging that police had failed to properly investigate the collision. Two months later the PSNI asked the Police Ombudsman to investigate the police handling of the case.

Enquiries by Police Ombudsman investigators established that after the crash, the driver of the car and an independent witness had told police that the woman had been knocked down after running onto the road after her dog. Both said there had been no opportunity for the driver to avoid an impact.

The pedestrian sustained a broken leg and a head injury and was taken to hospital by ambulance. The driver was also taken to hospital suffering from shock.

Police closed the road for a time and tasked mapping, photography and video resources, as well as opening a scene log.

Police Officer 1 was in charge of the investigation initially, but responsibility for the case was transferred to Police Officer 2 when the pedestrian’s injuries prove not to be life-threatening.

The pedestrian also claimed that the driver and a police officer who had called at her home following the collision were related, and alleged that there were errors in police documentation about the incident.

During their investigation of the complaint, Police Ombudsman investigators obtained all relevant police documentation, and interviewed Police Officer 2. The officer said he had been advised by his supervisor that there was no need to send a file to the PPS as the pedestrian had clearly been at fault, and there was no public interest in prosecuting her.

By the time the pedestrian made her complaint about the incident, Police Officer 1 had left the PSNI. He nevertheless agreed to speak to Police Ombudsman investigators and said the decision not to send a file to the PPS had been his, and he advised Police Officer 2 of this decision. He said Police Officer 2, who at that stage had just nine months service in the police, had acted upon this advice.

However, Police Officer 2 was unaware of guidelines requiring police to submit a PPS file for all traffic collisions which were not being dealt with as minor collisions.

The investigation also found two errors in a Traffic Collision Report automatically generated from police records of the incident. These errors concerned the injuries sustained by the pedestrian and the speed limit at the location of the collision.

The investigation found no link between the driver of the car and a police officer who later called at the pedestrian’s home in connection with the collision.

Having considered the evidence, the Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire, concluded that a file should have been sent to the PPS.

He noted that although police had spoken to witnesses and completed relevant documentation, statements were not taken from witnesses.

Dr Maguire concluded that Officer 1 would have been disciplined for these errors and omissions if he had still been a serving officer.