Police forced to apologise after officers captured on body-worn camera joking about death of Paul Hardcastle's son

A police force has apologised after officers were captured joking about the death of the son of musician Paul Hardcastle, who was killed in a crash while being pursued.

Paul Jr, 35, was being pursued by police when his motorcycle collided with a van near Ongar, Essex, and he died on January 12 of this year.

Mr Hardcastle, who topped the charts in 1985 with the song 19, said he had taken some comfort from the fact the pursuing officer tried her utmost to save his son's life.

However, he was left 'completely stunned' when he was shown body-worn footage, which showed three female constables, who were not involved in the pursuit but were sent after the crash, joking about his son's death. 

One of the officers laughed as she asked colleagues if it was the wrong time to reveal that Paul Jr had complained about her failure to properly investigate a road rage incident in which his vehicle had suffered £750 of damage. 

A transcript indicates one replied she could 'consider that closed', adding 'every cloud'. 

The IOPC uncovered the footage in June during an investigation triggered automatically by the death, which found that officers had behaved properly in the pursuit.

'It was the constant laughing and sniggering. There was no respect,' Mr Hardcastle told The Times.

'How do they treat members of the public who are alive if that's how they treat the dead?'

He said he learned that the three officers were assigned reflective practice, the lowest form of censure in policing, which he called a 'box-ticking exercise that will have no impact on their conduct'.

Mr Hardcastle added that he is pushing for more serious misconduct proceedings.

 'I’ve lost my boy, I can’t get him back, but I want to know I’ve done everything I could for him. And this was just so wrong,' he said. 

Chief Superintendent Scott Egerton of Essex Police said: 'I offer an unreserved apology to Mr Hardcastle's family for the profound distress these remarks have caused.

'The comments were made by officers who were not involved in the initial response or the determined efforts to save Mr Hardcastle's life, having attended the scene later.

'They should have demonstrated the highest standards of compassion and professionalism.'

He added that the comments were 'needless, insensitive and unacceptable'.

He continued: 'When this matter was brought to our attention, we took action.

'Our Professional Standards Department investigated the matter, and the behaviour was addressed directly with the officers involved.

'I want Mr Hardcastle's family to know that we recognise the hurt these comments have caused and that they should never have been put in this position.'