Widow reacts after BMW ceases supplying British police with cars

This is after a fatal crash which claimed the life of a popular police officer.

His widow, Kathryn, said it would not have happened if Cumbria Police had stopped using BMW vehicles which had a “startling” history of engine failure.

PC Nick Dumphreys, 47, was responding to an emergency call on January 26, 2020, when his patrol car veered off the M6 near Carlisle and crashed.

An inquest heard that his car’s engine suffered “catastrophic failure”, spewing oil onto the tyres and road surface as he drove at high speed.

There was nothing the officer – an advanced driver – could do to prevent the crash.

After hearing two weeks of evidence, Coroner Robert Cohen recorded an accidental death conclusion, and while he attributed no blame to either Cumbria Police or BMW, Mr Cohen used his power to recommend actions “to prevent future deaths.”

After the hearing, PC Dumphrey’s widow Kathryn expressed her anger that more was not done to guard against such a tragedy.

The inquest heard that the BMW N57 engine in the BMW cars used by the force –  and in other forces – had a litany of faults, known about for at least four-years. Since 2014, this engine type was failing five to seven times per month.

“That was clearly a startlingly high level of failure,” said Mr Cohen.

Cumbria Police and other forces continued to use that model of BMW car, with officers regularly driving them at speed to emergencies. Yet those officers, says the Police Federation, were unaware the engine failure issue.

Mrs Dumphreys called for all UK police forces to cease using these vehicles “to ensure that no other family endures the pain and suffering that she has gone through.”

However, in recent news, BMW said they won’t be suplying British police forces with BMWs anymore.

The halt of sales to the police follows a number of forces across the UK restricting duties carried out by BMW police cars featuring the N57 diesel engine, according to magazine Car Dealer.

Reacting to this news, Kathryn Dumphreys said: “Although it is too little too late for Nick and our family, BMW’s decision to stop supplying cars to UK Police Forces with immediate effect is the first step in the right direction.

“It is glaringly obvious that these cars were not, and in my view are still not fit or safe for UK policing purposes.

“This is finally the correct decision and given that BMW were fully aware of the risks in the years prior to Nick’s death – as the inquest into his death heard – it is the action that should have been taken years ago. 

“As we heard during the inquest, the rate of the engine failures in these BMWs (between 5 and 7 a month from 2014 to 2017) was described by the independent engineering expert as “extraordinary” and by the Coroner as “startling”.

“I firmly believe that had these cars been withdrawn from UK policing years ago – as they should have been – Nick would still be alive.

“I am relieved that the safety of our officers and the public is finally being taken seriously.

  “The spotlight is now firmly upon all UK Police Forces to prioritise safety and take immediate action to stop using all BMW cars.

“The National Police Chiefs Council know the facts, so why do they still require our officers to drive these cars – which have proved to be dangerous – nearly three years after Nick’s death?

“It is appalling and insulting.”

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