Two police officers have been charged in connection with the death of a heavily pregnant woman and her unborn baby after she was hit by a police vehicle in southeast London.
The 38-year-old woman was killed after her car was involved in a collision with a police vehicle in Eltham on 17 October 2024.
Her unborn child could not be saved. A witness said that the woman’s car flipped three times during the crash.
The two officers, one of whom is no longer with the force, were driving in separate unmarked police cars when the collision took place, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
PC Chris Johnson, 56, the driver of the police vehicle involved in the collision, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
Former PC Danny Tomkins, 35, the driver of the second police vehicle, has been charged with dangerous driving, in relation to the standard of his driving.
They are both due to appear at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 28 May 2026, the CPS added.
The force said PC Johnson is attached to the Met's Taskforce. Mr Tomkins was attached to the same unit at the time of the incident.
Acting detective chief superintendent James Derham, who leads policing in Greenwich, said: “Our thoughts remain with the woman's family and friends, who continue to grieve the loss of her and her unborn child. This was a truly terrible and heartbreaking incident.”
The charges follow an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which began a probe following a mandatory referral from the Met.
Eyewitness Abu Bakar said at the time that the woman was turning into the Sutcliffe Park Sports Centre when an unmarked police car collided with her vehicle.
Her car flipped three times and was “very badly smashed up”, he said.
The eyewitness said a man then came running out of the sports centre saying he was the woman’s husband.
Mr Bakar said: “The man rushed over and was shouting her name. He was telling police ‘that’s my wife’, ‘that’s my wife’ and ran over to her.”
Shocked local residents described the junction where the crash happened as “one of the most dangerous in southeast London”.
