Police pair banned after 90mph M1 drive ended in double crash

Pc Paul Salveson and Det Con Anthony Perkins had been travelling in separate cars along the M1 when Pc Salveson, 40, collided with a people carrier carrying five children and a female driver.

It is unclear exactly how the smash happened, but the collision between his unmarked Seat and Fatima Zahoor’s Seat Alhambra left both vehicles badly damaged.

Just over 30 seconds later Det Con Perkins, 53, driving an unmarked BMW, collided with the people carrier with such force that several of the children were thrown from the car.

One 11-year-boy was thrown out and ended up in the central reservation.

Patrick Gallagher, prosecuting, said: “Mercifully no one was killed but several people were injured.”

The 11-year-old suffered head injuries while Mrs Zahoor, who had been travelling from London to Bradford at the time of the accident, suffered a broken arm and Det Con Perkins a broken ankle.

Following the double crash, in the early hours of April 30 this year, an investigation was launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Investigators found “there were no defects on the road surface or any of the vehicles that caused or contributed to the collision”.

When the officers, from South Yorkshire Police, were interviewed several months after the accident they both claimed that at all times their driving was appropriate to the road conditions.

Leeds Crown Court heard last Friday that both men were trained as surveillance drivers.

Adam Birkby, defending PcSalveson, said: “This in my submission is a blip, not only in his driving career but his good character in general.”

Samuel Green, defending Det Con Perkins, said he accepted he broke the speed limit but “this did not cause the second collision to happen, it merely made an inevitable impact more forceful”.

He added: “They weren’t louts going for a spin, these were hard-nosed operational police travelling between efforts to bring serious criminals to book.”

Both officers were disqualified from driving for eight months.

Pc Salveson was fined £400, while Det Con Perkins was fined £500.

Passing sentence, the Recorder of Leeds, Peter Collier QC, said: “As police officers you are expected to set an example of obeying the law rather than breaking the law.”

He added it was with a “heavy heart” that he disqualified the pair from driving.

Both police officers had pleaded not guilty to a charge of dangerous driving, but guilty to careless driving.