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Police have admitted to significant failings in the investigation of a fatal crash in St. Peter’s Valley, which saw an 18-year-old trainee lifeboat rescuer killed when his jeep left the road and rolled onto its side.
At an inquest into the death of Aaron Banks, the inspector who had taken over the inquiry last year after the initial investigating officer had left the force, admitted to a number of failings, both in post-accident inquiries in 2019 and a re-investigation which began last year after concerns were raised by Mr Banks’s parents.
On the second day of the inquest, Deputy Viscount Mark Harris commended Mr and Mrs Banks for their persistence in trying to find answers to unanswered questions.
Advocate Harris concluded that “clear opportunities had been missed by the police to investigate the fatal accident in more detail”.
Asked questions by Advocate David Steenson on behalf of Mr and Mrs Banks, Inspector David Turnbull, who became Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) of the road traffic collision last April, admitted that the quality of a paragraph-long statement from one witness was “very poor” and “not what I would expect as an SIO”.
“I am very conscious that this left the family with more questions than answers, which is not ideal,” he said.
Insp Turnbull also said he didn’t know why the recording of this witness’s 999 call was no longer available. Nor did he know why her first statement had only been taken three months after the incident.
He was also unable to explain why a second statement had been left unsigned, which he conceded was “poor”.
Pictured: Described as "cheeky, funny and likeable", Aaron Banks died tragically in March 2019.
Insp Turnbull added that he had not spoken to the first and now-retired SIO but admitted that “it would have been a good idea” to do so.
He explained: “It is extremely difficult to come into someone else’s investigation two years down the line. My feeling is that I don’t think the [previous] SIO fully appraised the information and all the evidence in the statements. Had that taken place, we would be where we are now.”
Insp Turnbull that the force had already learned lessons from this investigation, especially in regard to taking statements.
“The importance of statements in the first days of an investigation is crucial,” he said. “Personally, there are things I would have done very differently. It has been extremely difficult to put the wheel back on two years later.”
He added: “I have no doubt that, after this inquest, there will be some kind of public apology.”
Advocate Steenson argued that the unanswered questions concerning one witness - who drove past Mr Banks around the time he struck the wall - meant that the police could not reach their conclusion that a “misjudgment of driving [by Mr Banks] had resulted in unexpectant loss of control.”
The police came to this view from the testimony of a witness in the car which Mr Banks’s red Suzuki Jimny jeep slid into. They said that Mr Banks appeared to stray into the opposite lane and then overcorrect, causing him to hit the low near-side wall to his left.
However, the Deputy Viscount determined that Mr Banks “died when, for reasons unclear, his vehicle rounded a left-hand bend, left the carriageway and struck a low-lying wall.”
He also found that Mr Banks died on Saturday 2 March 2019 due to a serious head injury sustained when his jeep hit a wall and then turned on its side on a section of the main road through St. Peter’s Valley between its junction with Tesson Mill and Mont Fallu.
The Suzuki Jimny then slid around 25m before hitting a blue Ford Focus travelling southbound in the opposite direction.
Also giving evidence at the inquest was Tristan Dodd, Head of Highways at the Infrastructure Department.
He explained that the low granite wall that Mr Banks hit - which then acted as a ramp, lifting up the jeep and tipping it over onto its side - had been damaged by a car in November 2018.
Previously with straight sides and a flat top, the damaged wall had been left wedge-shaped and was waiting to be repaired when Mr Banks struck it.
He said a lot of damaged walls, trees and banks around the island were of a similar wedged shape and, without any recognised accident before the November one, its repair had been “prioritised accordingly”.
However, he said, in recognition of the fatal accident and greater public acceptance of the St. Peter’s Valley cycle path, IHE would be applying to Planning to have the section of wall removed and replaced with a low timber post-and-rail fence.
Mr Dodd said that the department would liaise with Mr and Mrs Banks over the floral tributes that remain at the site where their son lost his life.
The removal of the wall was also recommended by the Deputy Viscount as part of his inquest findings. Advocate Harris also said he would be writing to the police about lessons the force should learn from the sudden and tragic death of Mr Banks.
After his tragic death, Mr Banks was described as "cheeky, funny and likeable" by those paying tribute.
A motorsport enthusiast, he was also training to join the crew of the Jersey Lifeboat Association and was due to become their youngest recruit.
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