26 March 2024 

Before HM Assistant Coroner Nick Stanage
Manchester City Coroner’s Court
26 March 2024

Ronaldo Johnson, affectionately known as Ron, was a 17-year-old Black teenager. He died on 6 April 2021 when a car crashed following a police chase in Manchester in the early hours of 31 March 2021.  

At 3.46am on 31 March 2021, a Greater Manchester police officer began pursuit of a car after it went through a red traffic light. During the pursuit, the police officer followed the car the wrong way around a roundabout and pursued it at high speeds of up to 65mph before it collided with a taxi in an intersection moments later.  

Today the inquest concluded that Ron was unlawfully killed by the driver of the car that was pursued by Greater Manchester police. 

The family are disappointed that the coroner’s findings made no mention of the police pursuit by Greater Manchester police officer, PC Stuart Oram. In their view this was a central issue in the inquest. The family firmly believe that if it were not for the police pursuit, Ron would still be here today.  

The family are campaigning alongside others to call for an end to police pursuits. 

Ron was a patient, kind, caring, strong, loving, passionate young boy who was dedicated to caring for the sick, disabled or anyone going through a tough season. After he died, the family learned from his friends that he had been donating packed lunches to those in need. 

The inquest heard that, despite knowledge that there was at least one victim, the officer did not immediately attend to the victims of the crash. Instead, he pursued the driver of the car on foot for a period of almost 3 minutes before returning to the scene of the crash.

When managing scenes, College of Policing guidance requires officers to first and foremost prioritise the preservation of life. It is clear that was not done in this case.

In his evidence at the Inquest, PC Oram accepted that it would have been better for him to request emergency services instead of simply stating “serious crash, serious crash”, so that the control room would know to call an ambulance immediately. 

Ronaldo’s family said: “Losing Ron has devastated his family, friends, loved ones and the community. We are fighting for justice for Ronaldo and will continue to fight for him. We ask you to support the Ronaldo Thierry Johnson Foundation. 

We are also working collectively with other families who have lost their loved ones in high-risk, unnecessary police pursuits. We do not want to see another life lost and invite you to support the #EndPolicePursuits campaign.”

Selen Cavcav, Senior Caseworker at INQUEST, said: “We are disappointed by this inquest conclusion, which does not address any failures by the officer especially in relation to his decision not to provide immediate medical assistance to Ronaldo following the collision. There needs to be a complete review of training and rules that allow the police to continue dangerous pursuits like this that cost lives.  

 

It is a travesty that this family were not granted funding for legal representation when representation for the other state bodies was paid from the public purse. This inequality of arms is one of the biggest obstacles facing families, who need to fight each step of the way to get basic answers as to how their loved one died and whether things could have been done differently to prevent the tragic outcome.” 

Emma Gilbert, Solicitor for the Family at Imran Khan and Partners, said: “It is astounding that the coroner’s findings of fact made no reference to the police pursuit by Greater Manchester Police immediately preceding the collision that led to Ron’s death. Ron’s death did not happen in a vacuum. 

It happened in the context of at least 8 deaths following police pursuits by Greater Manchester Police in 2021/22 alone, according to statistics by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. 

If families cannot rely on the inquest process to ask questions about and properly record facts on the death of their loved one – where are they supposed to turn?”   

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

For further information please contact [email protected]. A photo of Ron is available here.

The family is represented by INQUEST Lawyers Group members Emma Gilbert of Imran Khan and Partners Solicitors and Christian Weaver of Garden Court North. They are supported by INQUEST Senior Caseworker Selen Cavcav.

Other Interested persons represented are Greater Manchester Police and Northern Care Alliance.

Learn more about the End Police Pursuits Campaign and follow the Northern Police Monitoring Project. 

The latest official statistics on deaths following police pursuits and road traffic incidents involving police are available from the Independent Office for Police Conduct here.