Police again deny chasing teen boys killed in crash after CCTV footage emerged

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There were riots in Cardiff after two boys, aged 15 and 16, died in a crash (Picture: Wales News Service)
There were riots in Cardiff after two boys, aged 15 and 16, died in a crash (Picture: Wales News Service)

Police have issued another statement claiming that officers were not chasing two teenage boys on an electric bike shortly before they were both killed in a crash.

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, both died after they were involved in a smash in Ely, Cardiff shortly after 6pm yesterday.

CCTV footage appearing to show a police van following two people on a bike minutes before the fatal collision emerged after the incident, which sparked riots in the city centre.

BBC confirmed it has analysed and verified the footage taken in Frank Road, just over half a mile away from the site of the crash on Snowden Road.

South Wales Police chief superintendent Martyn Stone has now moved to deny that police vehicles were on Snowden Road when the incident happened.

It comes just hours after crime commissioner Alun Michael also denied that a police chase took place.

Ch Supt Stone said the force received CCTV footage that showed a police vehicle following a bike ahead of the serious collision but there were no police vehicles on the road at the time of the crash.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said: ‘We have received footage that shows a police vehicle following a bike at just prior to 6pm.

‘This footage is being recovered as part of the investigation and will assist us in piecing together the circumstances leading up to the collision. The families are being kept up to date.

‘We can confirm the following investigations have been carried out so far and when the collision occurred there were no police vehicles on Snowden Road.

‘A police vehicle on Grand Avenue responded to the collision, attended the area and officers performed CPR.’

A CCTV video has been blamed for triggering the riots which rocked a Cardiff estate - showing two boys on the back of an off-road bike with a police van just behind. The video was shared widely in the Ely estate in Cardiff after teenagers Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed in a collision. Police chiefs say their officers were not involved in the tragedy until after the collision on a busy street. But locals had already shared the video taken from a house security camera - and the families have also seen the footage. The footage showed two young helmetless young men on an off-road bike with a police van just one second behind. WALES NEWS SERVICE
CCTV footage showed two boys travelling on an electric bike around 900 metres from the site of the crash (Picture: Wales News Service)
A CCTV video has been blamed for triggering the riots which rocked a Cardiff estate - showing two boys on the back of an off-road bike with a police van just behind. The video was shared widely in the Ely estate in Cardiff after teenagers Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed in a collision. Police chiefs say their officers were not involved in the tragedy until after the collision on a busy street. But locals had already shared the video taken from a house security camera - and the families have also seen the footage. The footage showed two young helmetless young men on an off-road bike with a police van just one second behind. WALES NEWS SERVICE
A vehicle, appearing to be a police van, closely followed behind in the footage which has been verified by the BBC (Picture: Wales News Service)

PCC Michael told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier today that police had not chased the pair.

He said: ‘It would appear that there were rumours, and those rumours became rife, of a police chase, which wasn’t the case.’

Tensions reached breaking point after officers were called to the scene after some residents in the district claimed the two boys were being pursued by South Wales Police.

Police said the collision had already occurred when officers arrived, and they remained on the scene to manage ‘large-scale disorder’ until the early hours of this morning.

Council workers clear debris from the area immediately around a car that was set alight in Ely, Cardiff, following the riot that broke out after two teenagers died in a crash. Tensions reached breaking point after officers were called to the collision, in Snowden Road, Ely, at about 6pm on Monday. Officers faced what they called
Council workers clear debris from the area near a car that was set alight in the riots (Picture: PA)

At around midnight, Belinda Sullivan, Kyrees’s mother, pleaded on Facebook with the rioters to stop because her son’s body remained at the scene of the collision.

Friends of the two boys, who were from the Ely area, said they were riding a Sur-Ron electric bike without helmets when they died.

Tributes were paid to the two teenagers, with one local resident, Bridy Bool, calling Harvey a ‘sociable’ boy with ‘loads of friends’ who loved motorbikes and football.

She added that he was best friends with Kyrees, who was ‘into the same things’.

PICTURED HERE are Kyrees Sullivan, 15, and Harvey Evans, 16, (pictured together) who died in the accident which sparked the riot. Two teenage boys who died in a smash that sparked riots were
Kyrees Sullivan, 15, and Harvey Evans, 16, described as ‘best friends’ were killed in the crash (Picture: Wales News Service)

Specially trained public order officers were deployed, including officers from neighbouring police forces, as several vehicles were set alight, property was damaged and officers were injured.

Scenes being livestreamed on YouTube showed young people throwing fireworks and other missiles at a line of police officers with riot shields who were blocking one end of the street.

Shortly before midnight a car was set on fire and burned fiercely, while a second vehicle was overturned and also torched.

Riot police in Ely, Cardiff have joined emergency services at the scene of a crash after objects were thrown at officers. Some people wore balaclavas and masks and were seen breaking up paving slabs to hurl at police in Ely, Cardiff. Molotov cocktails have also been thrown at police in the ongoing incident and police cars damaged. Pictured here are the scenes the morning after the riots WALES NEWS SERVICE
The aftermath of the scene following the riots (Picture: Wales News Service)
Riot police in Ely, Cardiff have joined emergency services at the scene of a crash after objects were thrown at officers. Some people wore balaclavas and masks and were seen breaking up paving slabs to hurl at police in Ely, Cardiff. Molotov cocktails have also been thrown at police in the ongoing incident and police cars damaged. WALES NEWS SERVICE
Crowds clashed with riot police in Ely (Picture: Wales News Service)

One person was attacked because rioters thought they were an undercover officer, according to a senior officer at the scene.

Mr Stone confirmed while speaking to the press that 15 police officers needed medical attention following the disorder.

The South Wales force said arrests have been made but did not say how many.

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