Ely: Aunt of bike crash victim says police are to blame

Harvey Evans's aunt Hayley Murphy says his family are determined to get "justice" for him

By Tomos Morgan, Wales correspondent, & James McCarthy

BBC News

The aunt of one of two teenagers killed in an e-bike crash says she believes the police are to blame for their deaths.

Hayley Murphy, whose nephew Harvey Evans, 15, died alongside best friend Kyrees Sullivan, 16, said the family were determined to get "justice".

South Wales Police said officers were following the boys before the crash, which sparked a riot.

The force said it and the police watchdog are continuing to investigate.

Image source, Family photos

Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, died in a bike crash on Monday

CCTV from minutes before the accident in Ely, Cardiff, on Monday evening showed a police van driving at a distance behind the two boys, but the force said its nearest vehicle was half-a-mile away when the bike crashed.

"They were two children who were chased to their death by South Wales Police," Ms Murphy told the BBC after a vigil was held in memory of the two boys on Friday.

Ms Murphy, whose sister is Harvey's mother, claimed her nephew had been "arrested 30 times over the last two years, and there's been not one charge that's stuck".

She alleged in one case officers had visited his family home, after a police officer was assaulted, but doorbell video footage showed he was at home at the time.

She claimed on another occasion when officers believed he had done something wrong, the family were on holiday and "he wasn't even in the country".

Image source, PA Media

Balloons were released at a vigil held for them on Friday

She described Harvey as "chopsy and cheeky" but also "so lovable".

Ms Murphy called him "a typical teenager… out and about with all his friends and sees the police all the time".

She explained how Harvey, a fan of e-bikes and scooters, had told his father he was going to take Kyrees home on his electric bike, which was an early 16th birthday present, after they had had tea together.

"Harvey had only just had this bike and didn't want to lose it. He turned back and the police gave chase," she alleged.

Ms Murphy said the riot began after family members were waiting near the crash scene to find out if the boys were still alive as CPR was being carried out.

Tributes were attached to a fence in memory of the two boys

Harvey's grandmother, Dawn Rees, said they believed some people involved in the riot had no local connections and "didn't care what they were doing and rioting for".

Nine people in total have been arrested in connection with the riot - of whom at least five are from the Cardiff area - after the police investigation looked at more than 180 pieces of body worn footage.

Ms Murphy said the family had faced an agonising wait to get the police confirmation they feared about the boys' deaths.

She said: "They came to the house around four hours after it happened, about four hours in total, and they said 'there have been two fatalities but we cannot confirm who they are'.

Image source, Getty Images

Their deaths sparked a riot in the Ely suburb of Cardiff

"We knew it was Harvey, but we didn't get told until the family liaison officer came at around two o'clock the following day.

"How can you treat a family of a young boy like that?"

The two women also blamed rioters for delaying emergency services from removing Harvey and Kyrees' bodies from the scene of the crash.

"Those boys lied on that floor for 10 hours. Ten hours," Ms Murphy claimed.

Ms Rees said: "This is what we couldn't cope with because they were lying on the floor.

"It was all down to the riots. We had no support for 17 hours and it was because of the riots."

Watch: What the CCTV tells us about teens' final moments

"The only thing we can do is stay strong as a family and as a community and just continue fighting because we will get justice," said Ms Murphy.

South Wales Police said in a statement that it "cannot comment any further" due to ongoing investigations by the force and Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is looking at the police's interaction with the teenagers before their deaths.

A spokesman for the Welsh Ambulance Service said their involvement at the scene concluded before 20:00.