Met Police training changed after A13 crash inquest

Three lives were lost on the A13 in east London on July 15, 2024, following a fatal collision that an inquest jury concluded could have been prevented. The jury found that the deaths of Sachin Kalia, 19, Davina Kaur Ruprah, 24, and Kiranjeet Sagoo, 36, could have been avoided if Metropolitan Police officers had been dispatched to the correct location promptly to manage an earlier incident.

The initial collision occurred around 9.12pm when a speeding BMW lost control and struck a Ford Transit van. The van ended up on the central reservation, partially obstructing lane three. A caller contacted the Metropolitan Police at 9.19pm, twice identifying the crash site as the Wennington junction between the A13 and A1306. However, the police call handler did not record the Wennington junction in the system's remarks section. The computer system only listed an incorrect junction in Dagenham as a potential location.

Officers sent to the wrong location

As a result of the incorrect location data, responding officers were sent to the wrong place. They searched one junction in each direction but found no sign of the incident. By the time the error was identified later that evening, the fatal collision involving Mr Kalia, Ms Ruprah, and Mr Sagoo had already occurred. The jury stated that the cause of death was a collision resulting from the driver losing control at high speed in adverse weather conditions. They also noted that the fatal collision might have been avoided had the Ford Transit van not been parked on the central reservation after the first incident.

Coroner Nina Persaud issued a prevention of future deaths report, highlighting concerns over the failure to record the correct location. She noted that had officers been given the correct location, they would likely have arrived before the second collision. Their training includes parking their vehicle in a 'fend off' position to slow traffic and minimise risk, and they might have also removed the obstructing van. The coroner stated that the call handler's role is vital, often with lives at risk, and expressed concern about a reliance on imprecise mobile phone location systems that could distract from caller descriptions.

The Metropolitan Police acknowledged the seriousness of the recording error and the lack of immediate supervisory intervention. The force stated that the initial location provided by the caller was incorrectly entered and the opportunity to identify this error early was missed. The call handler, who learned of the mistake a week after the incident, will undergo a period of 'learning through reflection'. The force confirmed that What3Words has been formally integrated into its 2026 training syllabus, and all new call handlers will be trained to request, recognise, and use these codes. Updated guidance prioritises verbal descriptions from callers, with mobile mast data to be used only as supplementary information.