Muhammad Qasim

Louise Hunt 
Senior Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull 

26 August 2025 

Dear Ms Hunt, 

Muhammad Qasim - Regulation 28 Report to Prevent Future Deaths 

Thank you for your Regulation 28 Report dated 25 June 2025 concerning the tragic death of Muhammed 
Qasim. We acknowledge the concerns raised regarding the current guidance within the Police Pursuits 
Authorised Professional Practice (APP), and the delivery of police pursuit training to police drivers. 

We understand your primary concerns relate to: 

•  The lack of clear guidance within the Police Pursuits APP on the definition of a ‘spontaneous 

pursuit’, which may lead to inconsistent interpretation. 

•  Potential variations in the delivery of police pursuit training across different forces. 

The College of Policing remains committed to supporting operational excellence and public safety across 
all forces. In response to your report, we have taken the following actions and made the following 
commitments: 

•  We have liaised directly with ACC 

, NPCC National Lead for Police Pursuits, to 

consult on the content of your report and the concerns raised. 

•  We have reviewed the current Police Pursuit APP guidance. While the initial definition of a police 
pursuit is considered clear and appropriate, we acknowledge that the term ‘spontaneous pursuit’ 
may be open to interpretation. This could suggest that a pursuit might occur without first meeting 
the established definition. 

•  We will progress an amendment to the Police Pursuit APP to replace the reference to 

‘spontaneous pursuit’ with clearer, more precise guidance aligned with the National Decision 
Model (NDM). 

We have reviewed the current training requirements for police pursuits: 

•  The Code of Practice on the Management of Police Pursuits (Home Office, 2011) states that 
Chief Officers should arrange the selection, training, and authorisation of officers involved in 
pursuits in accordance with national standards.  These national standards are set out in the 
Police Driving National Policing Curriculum and cover the initial phase pursuit, tactical phase 
pursuit, and command and control.  It is the responsibility of each Chief Officer to determine the 
operational deployment of officers trained and authorised in both the initial phase (response 
drivers) and tactical phase (advanced drivers). 

•  The Police Pursuit APP outlines the roles and responsibilities of officers during a pursuit and 

mandates that only those trained and authorised to College standards may be directly 
involved.  The standardised delivery of police driver training is now a legal requirement under the 

 
 
 Road Traffic Act 1988 (Police Driving: Prescribed Training) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. 
Police Driver Training Units are subject to annual quality assurance and licensing by the College 
of Policing to ensure compliance. 

We are committed to ensuring that the learning from this case leads to meaningful and lasting 
improvements in policing practice and will continue to work closely with NPCC leads and police forces to 
ensure that national guidance and training reflect best practice and support safe operational decision-
making. We aim to publish the revised guidance by December 2025, subject to consultation and 
governance processes. The College will continue to monitor and address any inconsistencies in training 
delivery through its QA framework and feedback mechanisms. We will also ensure that learning from this 
case is disseminated nationally through our operational learning channels, including bulletins and 
updates to training materials.  
We extend our sincere condolences to Muhammed Qasim’s family and thank you for bringing this matter 
to our attention. We remain committed to ensuring that police pursuits are conducted safely, lawfully, and 
in a manner that maintains public confidence. 

Yours sincerely   

Chief Constable 
Chief Executive Officer  
College of Policing  
E:

OFFICIAL 

Sent via email only.  

20 August 2025 

Dear Ms Hunt 

Subject - Regulation 28 Prevention of Future Deaths Report arising from the inquest 

touching on the death of Muhammad QASIM. 

Thank you for your Preventing Future Deaths Report arising from the inquest into the 

death of Mr Muhammed Qasim. We have carefully considered its contents and set out our 

response below in relation to the following concern: 

For the IOPC: The IOPC were investigating the conduct of the police driver in this 

case. As a result of their investigation no full forensic collision investigation report 

was obtained. The IOPC need to confirm where investigative responsibilities lie when 

a conduct investigation is being conducted in all fatal incidents to ensure lessons are 

learnt from the death and adequate evidence is obtained. The lack of a full forensic 

collision investigation report in this case creates a risk of future deaths and action 

should be taken. 

The IOPC is committed to ensuring that whenever we carry out an independent 

investigation into a death or serious injury, our investigation is thorough and evidence-

based with a clear focus on learning and accountability. 

We work to ensure we gather all relevant and available evidence and seek expert advice 

where it is necessary and proportionate to the circumstances of the case. Collectively, this 

helps to inform the investigation and our ability to reach evidence-based decisions. 

With specific reference to matters involving road traffic incidents, the IOPC does not 

possess the technical skills or expertise to undertake collision investigation work. As such, 

we work with policing partners who have a duty to provide independent assistance by way of 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 OFFICIAL 

objective and unbiased opinion in relation to matters within their expertise. The reports 

produced by Forensic Collision Investigators are provided to the IOPC and the salient points 

are then included in the IOPC investigation report. 

Following the death of Mr Qasim in the early hours of 02 October 2023, the IOPC received 

a Death or Serious Injury (DSI) referral from West Midlands Police and an independent 

investigation was declared on 05 October 2023.  

At the conclusion of the IOPC investigation, solicitors representing Mr Qasim’s family 

challenged the IOPC investigation and a decision was made on 24 September 2024 to 

reinvestigate the police contact with Mr Qasim. 

The Terms of Reference for the initial IOPC investigation were agreed on 26 October 2023 

and included: 

To investigate West Midlands Police’s contact with Mr Qasim and Male B on 2 

October 2023, specifically in relation to: 

a) 

The actions and decisions of police officers and staff prior to the road traffic accident; 

b)  whether the decisions and actions of officers and staff were in line with local and 

national policies and procedures. 

At the outset of the investigation, the Lead Investigator engaged with a Senior Collision 

Investigation Unit (SCIU) supervisor within West Midlands Police. The Lead Investigator 

met with the SCIU supervisor and the allocated Forensic Collision Investigator on multiple 

occasions during the investigation. 

The IOPC lead investigator was advised that a full forensic collision report into the crash 

would not ordinarily be produced because Mr Qasim’s vehicle had not collided with 

another vehicle– it had left the road and impacted with a tree. 

There was CCTV footage from nearby properties that demonstrated that the police car 

involved in the incident was not close to Mr Qasim when he crashed. Therefore, at an 

early stage, the IOPC lead investigator was satisfied that the police car had not had direct 

physical contact with Mr Qasim’s vehicle to cause the collision. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 OFFICIAL 

As a consequence, the lead investigator and decision-maker were satisfied that the 

streamline collision investigation report would provide sufficient information for the IOPC 

independent investigation to fulfil its statutory obligations.  

During the investigation, the IOPC lead investigator was also advised by the SCIU that as 

a result of the damage to Mr Qasim’s vehicle, a vehicle examination would not be 

beneficial. However, the IOPC asked that this should go ahead, and this took place on 29 

November 2023 with the IOPC in attendance. 

The IOPC lead investigator obtained information downloaded from the police car, 

documenting its speed, the use of brakes and the use of sirens/emergency warning lights 

during the incident. This was obtained from both the on-board system and the vehicle CAN 

data.  

The IOPC lead investigator assessed the actions relating to the driver of the police vehicle 

regarding his manner of driving and decision-making prior to the collision, and determined 

there was an indication that the officer may have breached the Standards of Professional 

Behaviour to such an extent that disciplinary proceedings may be warranted. The 

investigation therefore became a conduct investigation.  

The lead investigator discussed the available evidence with the IOPC decision maker and 

a decision was made to approach the SCIU to undertake extensive analysis and speed 

calculations of the period prior to Mr Qasim’s crash. This was directly relevant to the 

conduct matters to determine whether the officer had entered into a pursuit, prior to the 

collision. 

As a result of the contact with the WMP SCIU, two documents were produced for the 

investigation: 

1.  A Coroner’s File – Fatal Road Traffic Collision report  

2.  A CCTV – Speed Analysis Report  

Both documents are attached to this response. 

Updates were provided to the Coroner throughout this investigation by the IOPC. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 Actions to be Taken / Organisational Learning 

OFFICIAL 

Following the inquest into Mr Qasim’s death, you have identified that the IOPC needs to 

confirm where investigative responsibilities lie when a conduct investigation is being 

conducted in all fatal incidents, to ensure lessons are learnt from the death and adequate 

evidence is obtained.  

In all IOPC investigations into fatal road traffic incidents, it remains open to us to make 

representations for a full Forensic Collision Investigation Report to be completed, or for us 

to commission one from an independent source. While it was the view of the investigation 

team that one was not required in this instance, we recognise that we did not specifically 

ask the Coroner their views.  

Going forward, all lead investigators will need to assess the circumstances of an incident 

and have early contact with the Coroner to determine whether a full Forensic Collision 

Investigation Report is required. If one is required, we will either request this from a police 

force or source an independent report if necessary.  

We will continue to use our internal technical leads in the IOPC to provide advice to IOPC 

lead investigators and your concerns have been brought to their attention as well as to the 

attention of our operational policy team.  

We will update the internal written guidance we provide to IOPC lead investigators to 

ensure consideration is given to securing a full Forensic Collision Investigation Report and 

that there is consultation with the Coroner about our approach. Our internal guidance will 

be updated within the next six weeks but in the meantime, our internal technical leads will 

liaise with investigators in the early stages of any investigations involving a road traffic 

fatality to ensure the correct considerations are made. 

In instances where we feel it is appropriate to secure a streamlined collision investigation 

report, we will set out the minimum standards we expect for that report, to ensure all 

relevant information is secured.  

I trust that the information provided clarifies our role and offers reassurance regarding the 

matters raised. We are committed to upholding the principles of impartiality and 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 independence, which are fundamental to the integrity of our investigative processes. 

OFFICIAL 

Yours sincerely 

Deputy-Director of Investigations - West 

5