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Episode details

Hereford & Worcester,3 mins

Crash victim's suspect 'allowed to flee to US'

Available for over a year

A devastated Worcestershire woman says she has 'no respect' for West Mercia Police, after being seriously injured in a car crash on the A4103 at Shucknall last summer. Mental health nurse Elizabeth Donowho was charged with 'causing serious injury by dangerous driving', and was due to appear at court in Kidderminster back in December, but didn't turn up, because he'd flown back to Texas on a commercial flight. That happened despite the fact he'd been labelled a potential "flight risk" - but the police have rejected Elizabeth's complaint, saying there are no lessons to be learned. West Mercia Police say the suspect was not arrested straight after the crash due to him requiring medical attention for "serious injuries". Our reporter Tom Edwards met Elizabeth, and describes how she feels let down. Because he wasn't arrested, there were no bail conditions, and the force say they therefore had "no power to stop him leaving the country, even if he was identified at a port". In a statement, Chief Superintendent Gareth Morris said he understood the situation was "distressing and frustrating" for Miss Donowho.

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