Police officer receives suspended jail sentence for death of Andrew Brown in fatal road collision

PC Daniel Francis was today sentenced at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty in December 2021 to causing death by careless driving.

Andrew Brown, 23, was walking home after a night out and crossing the road outside Hounslow station in West London when he was struck by the marked police car on 1 November 2019.  Andrew suffered critical injuries and sadly died four days later.

PC Daniel Francis, driving the marked police vehicle, had accelerated to 61 mph and failed to switch on his emergency sirens and lights as the car approached the pedestrian crossing outside the station.

HHJ Hilliard today sentenced PC Francis to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 2 years.  He must also carry out 240 hours of unpaid work, 20 days’ rehabilitation and will be subject to a curfew with electronic tag for 4 months.  He has also been disqualified from driving for 18 months.

The Judge paid tribute to Andrew, stating:

“He had his adult life ahead of him, a life of talent and promise in which he would have contributed much to others.  We are all the poorer for his passing.”

PC Francis is due to face gross misconduct proceedings which could result in dismissal from the Metropolitan Police.

Mr Brown’s family have said the following:

“We welcome today’s result and the Judge’s acknowledgement that PC Francis’ actions were at the most serious end of the scale when it came to sentencing.  We are pleased that PC Francis has accepted full responsibility for his actions and has not tried to blame anybody else for the tragic events that took away our son’s life.

The Metropolitan Police now have questions to answer about their policies and the training that is delivered to response drivers – particularly around the use of warning lights and sirens.  They have a duty to ensure that avoidable tragedies like this one do not continue to occur.”

The family are represented by Jag Bahra, a solicitor in our Human Rights team.

The family have asked for their privacy to be respected and will not be commenting further.