DESPITE thousands of people having seen CCTV footage on the BBC of Kyrees Sullivan, aged 16, and Harvey Evans, aged 15, being chased on their electric bike by a white police van, moments before their death, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael, continues to claim the ‘youths were not being chased’.
Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died in the crash on Snowden Road, Ely, Cardiff, South Wales, shortly after 18:00 BST on Monday.
‘I was assured, and I am still assured, that the youths were not being chased by the police at the time of the road traffic accident,’ Michael claimed on Radio Wales Breakfast yesterday morning.
Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts responded that Michael has ‘serious questions to answer’.
She added: ‘The role of police and crime commissioners is to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account, but Alun Michael this morning spoke rather as a spokesperson and defender for South Wales Police.’
Cardiff West Labour MP Kevin Brennan, said that it is ‘highly unfortunate’ that the information provided by the police appears not to have been ‘entirely correct’.
He added: ‘It’s important, if we’re going to have trust and confidence between the community and the local police force… there has to be openness and clarity.’
Bridy Bool, a friend of the family of Harvey Evans, said the fatal crash occurred because ‘they were being chased by the police’.
She insisted: ‘I know they were being chased by the police as there are videos going around that the police were chasing them.
‘They didn’t have helmets on and there was no reason for them to be chased.
‘Harvey had just eaten his tea and had left his mum’s. He had been at home all day with his mum, and he went with his friend, and this happened.
‘Harvey was such a young boy, a sociable boy, he had loads of friends and he loved motorbikes and football.
‘He was best friends with Kyrees and were into the same things. It was not unusual for them to be together.’
The deaths of the two friends following the police chase led to a mass youth uprising in the local area.
