Two officers charged after pregnant woman and unborn baby killed in crash with Met police car
Two police officers have been charged over the death of a heavily pregnant woman and her unborn baby after they were struck by a police car in south-east London.
The 38-year-old woman died when her car collided with a police vehicle in Eltham on October 17, 2024.
Her unborn child could not be saved. An eyewitness said the woman’s car rolled over three times during the accident.
The Crown Prosecution Service said two officers, one of whom is no longer with the force, were traveling in separate unmarked police cars at the time of the collision.
PC Chris Johnson, 56, the driver of the police vehicle involved in the collision, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
The driver of the second police car, 35-year-old former PC Danny Tomkins, was charged with dangerous driving under the driving standard.
The CPS added that both will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 28 May 2026.
Police said PC Johnson was attached to the Met’s Taskforce. Mr Tomkins was serving in the same unit at the time of the incident.
Acting detective superintendent James Derham, who leads the force in Greenwich, said: “Our thoughts are with the woman’s family and friends, who continue to grieve the loss of her and her unborn child. This was a truly horrific and heartbreaking incident.”
The charges follow an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which launched an investigation following a mandatory referral by the Met.
Eyewitness Abu Bakar said the woman was returning to Sutcliffe Park Sports Center when an unlicensed police car crashed into her vehicle.
His car rolled over three times and “was totaled up pretty bad,” he said.
The eyewitness said that a man then ran out of the sports center, saying he was the woman’s husband.
Mr Bakar said: “The man was running and shouting the woman’s name. He was telling the police ‘this is my wife’, ‘this is my wife’ and he ran to the woman.”
Shocked residents described the junction where the crash occurred as “one of the most dangerous junctions in south-east London”.
