David Chadwick is calling for road traffic collisions to be investigated more swiftly.
The Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe MP said in the Commons that in 2012, he was run over by a car in the Netherlands and woke up in hospital several days later with fairly severe injuries.
He told MPs: “I am thankful that the resulting police investigation was swift and efficient. Unfortunately, that is not the case for such incidents in the UK.
“Forensic collision units across the country are facing severe challenges in preparing cases, resulting in large delays to trials and ultimately to justice, prolonging the agony for impacted families.”
Mr Chadwick asked Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson, what her department is doing to help the police tackle those resourcing challenges and to ensure road traffic collision cases come to a swifter conclusion.
Dame Diana said she was sorry to hear about the accident that Mr Chadwick suffered in 2012, and hoped that he has made a full recovery.
She said: “On his specific point, I will go away and ask my officials about that and about what more we can do to ensure justice is done on road collisions and that cases go to court quickly.”
Mr Chadwick's question came after a court was told that the investigation into the alleged hit-and-run death of Crickhowell student, Harry Webb, will take about a year-and-a-half to complete due to resourcing challenges being faced by the Metropolitan Police forensic collision unit.
The 27-year-old died following a collision in Homerton, Hackney on Sunday, September 10, 2023.
Mr Webb’s parents, Pat and Mike Webb, are now unlikely to find out until March 2025 at the earliest whether the defendant in the case is going to face additional charges in relation to their son’s death - a wait of 18 months.
Speaking after the Commons debate, Mr Chadwick said: “It is simply not right that victims and family members of victims are being put through excessively long waits for investigations to go to trial, which only extends their agony.
“The Government must ensure that forensic collision units across the UK are being properly resourced so that no family should be expected to wait the amount of time Pat and Mike are being asked to for a trial to proceed.
“I am grateful for the Minister’s response today and hope to arrange a meeting with her in future to discuss the problem in more detail in addition to the specific case impacting my constituents.”