The Supreme Court has ruled that Thames Valley Police were not negligent in the deaths of two men who died in Great Missenden more than a decade ago.

On March 4, 2014, 64-year-old Malcolm Tindall of High Wycombe, and 29-year-old Carl Bird, of Aylesbury, were killed after their cars were involved in a full-frontal smash on an icy blackspot along the A413.

They were driving in opposite directions when they were involved in the crash between Bowood Lane and Leather Lane early that morning.

The incident happened after officers from the force had attended another crash in the same location just 20 minutes earlier.

PC David Stamp, PC Hugh Flanagan and PC Caroline Irwin, who visited the previous collision, allowed the road to remain open.  

They then left moments before the second crash took place.

At the official joint inquest in November 2017, a jury concluded that the police should have “taken action” following the first crash, “such as placing appropriate signs, requesting gritters and staying at the scene until they arrived, closing the road and requesting appropriate support.”

The misconduct hearing also found the officers to have “breached standards” and gave them written warnings and “management advice”.

Seven years later, the widow of Mr Tindall took legal action against Thames Valley Police, alleging that the force’s conduct was negligent, holding the chief constable liable.

After the first claim was made, the chief constable applied to strike it out.

This is when a judge has ordered that written material be removed from the record and can no longer be used.

This initially failed but later succeeded on appeal before the Court of Appeal.

Mrs Tindall then decided to bring the case to the Supreme Court, suggesting that Thames Valley Police played a role in her husband’s death.

At the official hearing on October 23, Justices Lord Leggatt and Lord Burrows concluded that the officers had no responsibility.

Lord Burrows said: “At approximately 4.30am on March 4, 2014, Martin Kendell lost control of his car on an area of black ice, whilst travelling in the direction of High Wycombe.

“He skidded off the road and rolled into a ditch.

“He called the emergency services, and the police came along with an ambulance.

“Mr Kendall was taken to hospital.

“The police removed the debris of the accident from the road, and then left, having removed the ‘police slow sign’, they had put up.

“They did not do anything about the black ice.”

Lord Burrows then explains how Carl Bird was “travelling in the other direction of the A413”, before losing control of his vehicle, “on the same patch of ice”.

He would then crash his vehicle into Malcolm Tindall, who was driving in the other direction.

The head-on collision resulted in the deaths of both men.

He continued: “The Supreme Court unanimously dismisses her appeal.

“The police did not have control of the danger in the sense required by law, and no duty of care could arise simply based on the status of the police, as professional emergency responders.

“Mrs Tindall’s appeal is therefore dismissed.”

To watch the full hearing, visit www.supremecourt.uk/watch/uksc-2023-0059/judgment.html.