AN investigation into the death of teenage boy following a police pursuit has cleared officers of any wrongdoing.

Brandon Morris, 16, was killed when the car he was travelling in collided with another vehicle in Middlesbrough on March 14 last year.

The driver of the car, Lee Harvey, pleaded guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

As a result of the investigation, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) recommended that Cleveland Police officers require additional training around self-authorisation of pursuits, despite them adhering to local and national policies and procedures.

IOPC operations manager Ian Tolan said: “Our thoughts remain with Brandon’s family and friends following this tragic incident – it was clearly very distressing for everyone involved.

"Evidence found by the investigator confirmed that the police response was appropriate, but we recommended that further individual training for the officers would be beneficial.”

The investigation found that officers were in pursuit of the car shortly before the collision, having assessed that Harvey was driving dangerously around the Park Vale Road area.

It rules that both police officers – who were treated as witnesses throughout the investigation – acted in accordance with the relevant policies and procedures when making their decision to try and stop the vehicle.

The officers self-authorised their decision to pursue the car, rather than seeking permission from the control room, however the investigator said it was appropriate in the circumstances, given that just nine seconds elapsed between the decision to pursue and the collision.

The officers provided detailed accounts of the incident, which were corroborated by eye witness accounts, CCTV footage of the incident and dashboard camera footage.

A Cleveland Police spokesman added: “Our thoughts remain very much with the family and friends of Brandon Morris at this time. We thank the IOPC for their efforts which have concluded that the actions of Cleveland Police officers during the pursuit were in accordance with local and national policies and procedures.”