Police deaths driver wins appeal

Leayon Dudley was convicted of murder and manslaughter

A driver convicted of killing two police officers has had the verdicts overturned and will face a re-trial.

Leayon Dudley, 40, from Acocks Green, Birmingham, was jailed for life in May 2003 for the deaths of Pcs Andrew Munn, 37, and Bryan Moore, 39.

The two officers from Leicestershire were killed when Dudley's van hit their patrol car on the A42 in August 2002.

The Appeal Court ruled the convictions unsafe after hearing expert evidence on the accident had not been allowed.

Dudley was convicted of Pc Bryan Moore's murder and the manslaughter of Pc Andrew Munn by a jury at Stafford Crown Court last May.

The court heard how in August 2002 he had led police on a 50-mile pursuit in his Transit van before mounting a verge and ploughing into the back of a patrol car on the A42 in Leicestershire.

Pcs Bryan Moore and Andrew Munn were killed in August 2002

The car exploded in a fireball, killing the two officers.

Dudley was jailed for life for murder and manslaughter and ordered to serve a minimum 15 years.

At the appeal on Wednesday his defence counsel argued that he was trying to "undertake" the patrol car and that the collision was an accident.

They stated that he was not given a fair trial as an accident reconstruction expert was not allowed to give evidence on road configuration and visibility

The three appeal judges ruled that the trial judge Mr Justice McCombe should have allowed the jury to hear such evidence.

Lord Justice Pill said a defendant was "entitled to a fair trial of the question of whether his conduct was criminal", no matter how tragic the consequences of his actions may have been.