COPS have made a shocking U-turn as they admit they were following two teens moments before a horror fatal crash which sparked riots in Cardiff.
Chaos erupted on a residential street in Ely on Monday night after Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed riding an electric bike around 6pm.
The deaths of the duo caused uproar in the community with rumours quickly spreading on social media that officers were to blame for the crash.
Footage from a RingDoorbell cam shows two young lads racing down the road with a police van following immediately behind them.
It was captured moments before the teens tragically died with the clip being time-stamped at just after 5.59pm.
The collision was reported to police at 6.03pm.
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Police chiefs previously denied their officers were involved in the tragedy until after the collision – insisting it had “already occurred when officers arrived”.
But at a press conference on Tuesday night, South Wales Police admitted they had “received CCTV footage which shows a police vehicle following a bike just prior to 6pm”.
They added: “This footage is being recovered as part of the investigation which will assist us in piecing together the circumstances leading up to the collision.”
It comes after unrest saw yobs torching cars and pelting cops with rocks and flaming missiles amid the rumours – injuring around a dozen officers.
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One witness told The Sun: “The police have lied. I watched it in front of me.
“They were chasing the two boys on the bike — why I don’t know.
“If they didn’t chase them, then they wouldn’t have died.
“That footage is evidence, you can see they are speeding after them.
“That’s what the police are like around here anyway.
“They will bully, chase and do whatever they can to all the little kids around here.
“It’s disgusting. They won’t respond now they were caught out. I saw it for myself.”
One resident said: “Those boys were chased – it is all there on video for us all to see. That is why people took to the streets to do what they did.”
Harvey Evans’ godmother Bridy Bool added: “We know the boys have been chased, there are videos of it.”
Kyrees’ uncle told The Times: “My nephew and his best mate are dead because they chased him on a little electric motorbike.”
If they didn’t chase them, then they wouldn’t have died
A witness speaking to The Sun
At the press conference Chief Superintendent Martin Snow said: “At 6.03pm we received a report of a serious collision which resulted in the death of two boys.
“An electric bike has been seized from the scene. We’ve received CCTV of police following a bike.
“This is being used in the investigation.
“When the collision occurred there were no police on Snowdon Road. We do not believe any other vehicles were involved.”
Alun Michael, crime commissioner for South Wales, had rubbished the claims of a pursuit on Tuesday morning.
He said: “It would appear that there were rumours, and those rumours became rife, of a police chase, which wasn’t the case and I think it illustrates the speed with which rumours can run around with the activity that goes on social media nowadays, and that events can get out of hand.”
Cardiff Councillor Rodney Berman argued the CCTV video raised “serious questions” about the “version of events” detailed by the force and crime commissioner.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis condemned the scenes as he said arrests have already been made.
The force has since referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We will be sending investigators to a police post incident procedure to begin gathering information and to assess whether the IOPC will carry out an independent investigation”.
Kyrees Sullivan’s mum Belinda Sullivan, 42, told of her heartbreak as her son lay dead in the street for hours as rioters lobbed fireworks.
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The mum said she was blocked from getting to Kyrees, who also couldn’t be taken to hospital, because of the troubles.
Tributes have since been paid to the two pals.
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Morgan Johnson
