Senior cop lifts lid on investigation of crash that killed teenager - and shares key message for young drivers
A senior road police inspector who investigated the death of a teenage girl at the hands of her boyfriend has told how officers overcame a significant complication to help convict him for his “terrible, reckless and dangerous” driving.
Logan Addison killed 17-year-old Lily-May Vaughan when he smashed his Volkswagen Golf into an electricity pole in Shawbury on February 4, 2023.
Addison hit the post with such force that he snapped it in half, knocking out the electricity in the surrounding area. He was found guilty at Shrewsbury Crown Court of causing Lily-May’s death by dangerous driving, and sentenced today (Friday, June 20).
Lily-May lived in Kidderminster and went to school in Wolverhampton, and was training at college to fix bodywork on cars.
Chief Inspector Julian Smith, a senior roads policing officer for West Mercia Police who was involved in the investigation, said that the damage to the pole itself caused a problem for officers investigating the case.
“There were complications in terms of collecting the CCTV evidence because the collision involved interference with the electricity supply and took out several areas we would normally get CCTV from,” he said. “An awful lot of work went into securing the conviction. There were several complications with the investigation.”
The lack of CCTV footage meant that prosecutors relied on witness testimony and evidence gathered at the scene by collision investigators.
