24 May 2023 , 07:55
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A police chief has reiterated that two teenagers killed in an e-bike crash which sparked riots in Cardiff were not being chased by police.
CCTV footage emerged last night showing a police van trailing close behind a bike - which appeared to be being rode by Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, minutes before they died on Monday.
Alun Michael, South Wales' police and crime commissioner, said yesterday no police chase had taken place - with the force also initially adamant officers arrived after the accident.
Chief Superintendent Martyn Stone has since admitted officers had followed them but insisted there were no police vehicles on the street when the crash took place.
The force said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Policing Conduct (IOPC) following the disorder to "ensure the matter receives independent scrutiny".
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Kyrees Sullivan, 15, and Harvey Evans, 16, were killed in a crash on Monday (Facebook)However, Mr Michael told Radio Wales Breakfast today: "I was assured, and I am still assured, that the youths were not being chased by the police at the time of the road traffic accident."
On Tuesday, he'd said: "It would appear that there were rumours, and those rumours became rife, of a police chase - which wasn't the case."
Later on yesterday South Wales Police said it was "studying CCTV and tracking data from the police vehicle", adding that there were "no police vehicles on Snowden Road" at the time of the crash.
The footage, which shows a police van following the boys, was reportedly filmed on Frank Road, around half a mile from where they crashed on Snowden Road.
CCTV shows a police van chasing behind an e-bike minutes before the crash (WALES NEWS SERVICE)The clip is time-stamped at just after 5.59pm, with the fatal collision reported to police at 6.03pm.
Mr Michael went on to say today: "What happened was footage emerged of something that happened a short time before the road traffic accident, and that too needs to be investigated.
"That was not available to the police or to me at the time when we responded to the first thing that happened, which was a road traffic accident."
He claimed the CCTV footage was filmed five minutes before the crash occurred.
The footage appears to show the boys sharing the bike without wearing helmets (WALES NEWS SERVICE)He said a police van was in another street and officers arrived quickly to conduct CPR.
"That is being investigated as well and the latter is being referred to the independent office for police conduct so anything that comes in needs to be investigated fully so we have the full picture," the PCC added.
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Police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has said it is sending investigators to assess "whether the IOPC will carry out an independent investigation".