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| Pc jailed over girl's crash death | Pc jailed over girl's crash death |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| A police officer has been jailed for causing the death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl by dangerous driving. | A police officer has been jailed for causing the death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl by dangerous driving. |
| Pc John Dougal, 41, accelerated to 94mph (151km/h) in a 30mph zone before he hit Hayley Adamson in Newcastle's Denton Road on 19 May last year. | Pc John Dougal, 41, accelerated to 94mph (151km/h) in a 30mph zone before he hit Hayley Adamson in Newcastle's Denton Road on 19 May last year. |
| He was jailed for three years on Friday after earlier being convicted at Newcastle Crown Court. | He was jailed for three years on Friday after earlier being convicted at Newcastle Crown Court. |
| Dougal was chasing a suspect car at the time, but did not have his siren or blue lights switched on. | Dougal was chasing a suspect car at the time, but did not have his siren or blue lights switched on. |
| During his trial it emerged Dougal was reacting to the automatic number plate recognition system of his Volvo patrol car, which alerted him to a passing Renault Megane. | |
| But the device was incorrect and the Megane was being lawfully driven. | |
| 'Totally avoidable' | |
| Dougal accelerated to catch it up and struck Miss Adamson, of Cedar Road, Fenham, when she stepped into the road. | |
| It was estimated that the Volvo had slowed to around 70mph when it hit the teenager. | |
| She had been drinking alcohol, which may have affected her decision-making, but the court heard that it was difficult to judge traffic speed, especially at night. | |
| He had no justification whatsoever to drive at such excessive speed Gary Garland, IPCC | |
| Dougal told the court during his trial he had not wanted to alert the Megane driver that he was being pursued by putting on his sirens. | |
| The officer, a qualified advanced driver, was travelling so fast he had effectively become a passenger in his own car and had surrendered "to physics", according to a police driving instructor who gave evidence during the trial. | |
| Miss Adamson died the night before her English GCSE exam. | |
| After the trial Gary Garland, the North East Commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said the tragedy "should have been totally avoidable". | |
| He said: "Pc John Dougal is a highly trained police driver, yet he chose to take totally unnecessary and unacceptable risks and travel at high speed on a residential road. | |
| "He had no justification whatsoever to drive at such excessive speed. | |
| "Being a highly trained police driver should never be used as licence to take unnecessary risks on public roads." | |
| As well as being jailed, Dougal was also banned from driving for four years. |