Presence of a police vehicle engaged in a pursuit “significantly contributed” to deaths of Ryan Duffy and Ellie Marsden, inquest jury finds
21 March 2025
Christian Weaver (pictured at a speaking event in Liverpool Town Hall) represented Ryan Duffy’s family. Credit: Broudie Jackson.
An inquest jury has concluded that a significant contributing factor to the deaths of Ryan Duffy and Ellie Marsden, a holidaying couple from Wigan, was the presence of a police vehicle.
The jury found that, on the balance of probabilities, the police vehicle was engaged in a spontaneous police pursuit, despite the officer not being pursuit-trained, and that this contributed to causing the crash.
The couple fatally collided with a tree in the early hours of 5 September 2021, when the van they were travelling in left the road following a pursuit by a Cumbria Constabulary officer from Appleby town centre to Long Rigg.
At around 12:30am, the officer, on mobile patrol duty, saw Ellie getting into the passenger side of a van driven by Ryan. The officer then followed the van as it drove away from Appleby town centre.
The officer stated that his reason for following the van was because it was “quiet” and there were “not many other cars on the road”. At no point did he activate his emergency blue lights. Telemetry data from the police vehicle indicated that the officer repeatedly drove above the speed limits of the road.
Throughout the inquest, Garden Court North’s Christian Weaver rigorously questioned the Cumbria Constabulary officer on his actions, training, and adherence to pursuit protocols, pressing him on whether his actions aligned with official policing policy. The jury ultimately agreed, finding that a spontaneous pursuit had taken place and that the presence of the police vehicle “significantly contributed” to the crash.
Christian said: “Police pursuits are high-risk – not only to the person being pursued, but also the general public and the police themselves. This is why, if pursuits do take place, only trained officers should engage in them. This officer was not pursuit-trained, yet his actions met the definition of a spontaneous pursuit. It is deeply concerning that it took an inquest to make that clear. The police themselves failed to recognise this – despite the officer’s actions aligning with the precise definition.
Given the tragic circumstances, this raises serious questions about how these incidents are assessed and investigated, and whether policies aimed at protecting lives are being properly enforced.”
Karen Duffy, Ryan’s mother, said: “We as a family began this process wanting to know the truth about how a happy night away for a young couple turned out to have (as the coroner himself termed it) ‘profoundly tragic consequences’.
Thanks to the unwavering efforts of Ellie’s family and the support and legal expertise of Christian Weaver, barrister, and Leanne Devine, solicitor, Ellie Riley and the coroner and his officers, we now hopefully have some version of that truth.
We as a family can only hope that lessons can be learnt from this to ensure other families do not have to suffer the agonies of loss as we have.
Ryan was an amazing young man who loved life and had so many dreams and hopes for the future, he was so loved by family and friends and all who knew him – he will be missed always.”
Christian is a member of Garden Court North Chambers’ inquests and public inquiries team. He was instructed by Leanne Devine and Ellie Riley of Leigh Day in representing Ryan’s family.
Ellie’s family was represented by Alice Wood of Farley’s, who instructed Andrew Bridgman of St John’s Buildings.
Additional media
Manchester Evening News: Tears in court after inquest jury delivers ruling on crash that killed young couple on holiday
For further information, please contact Alex Blair, Communications Manager at Garden Court North Chambers: ablair@gcnchambers.co.uk
