A teenager who was hit by a police car with a faulty siren died 17 years later from injuries he suffered in the accident, an inquest heard.
Greg Love passed away in January as a result of severe brain damage after being knocked off his BMX bike in December 2006, aged 13.
The car was responding to a 999 call in Bournemouth. The brain injuries Greg suffered left him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. A CT scan weeks before his death showed that Greg, 31, needed a major bowel operation to survive. But his family decided the risks of the surgery would leave him with such a low quality of life that they began a process of palliative care.
He died at his care home in Ferndown, Dorset, on January 3. The cause of death was bowel ischemia, pneumonia, a traumatic brain injury and epilepsy. Greg had been cycling home from an RAF cadets class. He was not wearing his safety helmet.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission concluded the driver was not at fault. It was admitted that the vehicle's siren was not in use at the time and was faulty.
The jury at the inquest in Bournemouth returned a narrative verdict.
They said: “He died because of the injuries from the incident.”