A Met Police medic has claimed officers regularly use an unofficial driving trick to get around London at high speeds, with no intention of attending an emergency. PC Conor Casey made the startling allegation to a misconduct panel after he topped 103mph returning a police car to its home garage after a long bank-holiday shift policing Notting Hill Carnival.
The technique, called ‘Piggybacking’, relies on Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) announcements in the direction the driver is heading, allowing them to justify engaging the blue lights system and speeding, while gambling they will not ultimately be required at the scene of the incident. Scotland Yard say the alleged practice is not authorised or approved in any of the guidance given to officers.
PC Casey’s tribunal heard he had just finished a 17-hour shift at Carnival on August 28 2022, when the Public Order Medic was tasked with driving an unmarked Vauxhall Astra from Edmonton Police Station to Hertford House in Barking via the North Circular.
PC Casey completed the 10-mile journey in 12 minutes, breaking the 30mph speed limit in Edmonton, while passing 100mph on the North Circular, which has a 50mph speed limit. The blue lights system was initially switched off, but turned itself on due to the braking force and cornering speeds. MyLondon calculates PC Casey travelled at an average speed of 50mph.
When PC Casey was challenged over the dash, he claimed he ‘blue lighted’ towards three emergencies to make the journey quicker, as he and his passenger were due back at work for 7am the next morning. The medic also claimed this would help him avoid sleep deprivation, which would reduce the chance of him performing badly at work the next day.
At the hearing, PC Casey doubled-down on his claims about reducing sleep deprivation, citing his 23-hour shift on August 29 and a 90-hour working week between August 28 and September 3. The officer also claimed there was ‘limited risk’ from his driving as the roads were wide, well-lit, and the lane he was using was relatively free.
Contrary to PC Casey’s claim the journey would normally take 40 minutes, the panel suggested he only saved around 10 minutes. The panel also noted there was no evidence to say ‘piggybacking’ is condoned or approved at the Met, nor does it feature in the driving guidance – which PC Casey would have been familiar with, as he only passed his test a month earlier.
Given that attendance to an emergency might have delayed him by another few hours, the panel also found PC Casey never had any intention to answer the CADs that he utilised for the ‘piggybacking’ practice. Refuting his claim that the speeding was for a ‘noble cause’, the panel found it had placed the public at risk, especially on PC Casey’s own evidence that he was tired.
Public exposed to ‘unjustifiable risk’
The officer might have been sacked, if it were not for mitigation in the form of his demanding shift-work, his assistance with an unexpected birth at Carnival, and his ‘unblemished’ 12-year career to date. The panel also found that he had ‘followed by example’ when learning how to ‘piggyback’ from other police drivers.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “On the 28 August 2022, PC Casey drove a Met vehicle at speeds in excess of 100mph. In doing so, he made use of the vehicle’s warning equipment and/or driving exemptions without justification and accordingly, exposed members of the public to unjustifiable risk.
“The panel find that PC Casey’s actions found proved amount to gross misconduct, in that the breach of the Standard of Professional Behaviour of Discreditable Conduct. The panel concluded that the appropriate and proportionate outcome is to impose a final written warning on PC Casey for a period of two years.”
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