Source : Perth Now news
Questions remain around whether a 24-year-old police constable, who was at the wheel of a patrol car during a devastating crash in Sydney’s south, will face charges over the fatal incident.
While police have said speculation over charges would be “incredibly premature,” they did not explicitly rule them out on Friday afternoon while fielding questions from reporters about the horror crash which took place earlier that day.
Constable Mia Lay, 20, died instantly after the police car she was a passenger in crashed into a tree while responding to reports of a stolen car along Gibbons St, Redfern, in Sydney’s inner city early Friday.
The police car, being driven by a male constable, had its lights and sirens on when the crash occurred at 1.30am.
The male constable was treated by paramedics at the scene before he was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a stable condition.
The vehicle was completely destroyed in the crash, and images of the scene show a crumpled pile of wreckage dispersed around a tree, which has been stripped completely bare on one side by the impact.
On Friday, when asked if charges could imminent, Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said he wouldn’t “speculate” while the investigation is in its infancy, although he didn’t rule anything out.
“We’re trying to examine every circumstance … as I said, our officers were responding to an urgent duty … they had lights and sirens on. The actual circumstances of the collision are unknown at this time,” he said.
“When officers are travelling on urgent duty, when they have lights and sirens on, they are exempt under the Australian road rules, they can exceed the speed limit.
“We need to understand the circumstances … what I’m keen to do is make sure our officers are as safe as possible … the only way to do that is examine these scenes thoroughly.”
THe incident has been declared a critical incident, with police calling for anyone with footage to come forward.
According to reporting from The Daily Telegraph, Ms Lay’s boyfriend Dan, also a serving police officer, was on duty at Eastern Beaches Area Command when the incident took place.
Ms Lay had only been out of the Academy for 16 months when the crash took place, and was referred to by Commissioner Lanyon as a “much loved” member of the South Sydney police area command.
“There is nothing I can say easily that takes the pain away, but please know that Mia was a loved police officer,” he said.
“She showed exceptional promise, and was well loved … she would have been an outstanding police officer.”
