Fatal Peacehaven Collision: Eyewitnesses Say Police Swerved Towards Victim

The Times newspaper has reported that eyewitnesses at the scene of a fatal collision in Peacehaven (April 30) saw an unmarked police car "swerve towards" the victim, before hitting him and handcuffing him as he lay dying.

Police reported simply that 'the incident happened in Dorothy Avenue on Saturday, April 30, at around 11.10pm and involved a police car and pedestrian. The 27-year-old man sadly died at the scene'.

But a report in The Times this week said the victim, Arthur Holscher-Ermert, whose father, Jens Holscher, is a lecturer in economics at Bournemouth University, was being chased in his Audi by police in an unmarked black BMW, for driving without insurance.

Holscher-Ermert, was reportedly on foot when the incident happened - evidently he had exited his car during the chase.

A bystander who says he was standing 60 yards away from the incident, told The Times:

 "Their blue lights came on and the BMW swerved over the road and hit this bloke. They must have been going about 30mph. The bloke was halfway across the road. The police car swerved across the road to hit him.”

The Times says the witness, named only as Matt, and his friends went to assist the victim and filmed what was happening. He said:

“He was rolling around on the floor in pain and in shock. There was a pool of blood around him and they were still trying to cuff him.

“My friend held his head till he died. The copper who was driving the car didn’t know what to do. He tried to say he didn’t do it, but we saw him.” 

The Times has reported that the family initially criticised police for being slow to contact them following the incident.

Sussex Police released a statement this morning to say they were fully co-operating with the independent investigation, which is being led by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and, because of this, Sussex Police is unable to publish any further details.

Chief Superintendent Jo Banks said:

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who tragically died in this collision. We recognise the impact of this incident on his family and the local community and we are fully co-operating with the IOPC to ensure a full and fair investigation. The IOPC are liaising with the family and as such we are unable to provide further information.”

IOPC Regional Director Graham Beesley said:

“Our sympathies are with the man’s family and everyone else affected by his death. We will be in contact with the man’s family to explain our role and will keep them regularly updated on our progress.

“We appreciate there has been concern expressed in the community about exactly what happened on Saturday evening and we are working hard to establish all of the facts. We are looking at the circumstances leading up to the collision and the actions of the police in the immediate aftermath. We have already received dashcam footage from a member of the public who was driving in the area at the time and we are analysing that along with footage from the police car involved in the collision.

“Initial accounts from the police officers involved have been provided and we are also gathering police body worn video and radio transmissions.

“We know that a number of people were at the scene following the collision and we would appeal to anyone with information to come forward and talk to us. We would also like to hear from anyone with mobile phone or other footage they may have recorded of the incident."