A TAXI passenger killed when a car being chased by the police collided into the back of the hackney cab was travelling home from her son’s wedding, it has emerged.
Mary Laurie, 57 – also known as Marie – was heading home to Easterhouse in Glasgow when the collision occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The incident is now the subject of an independent investigation by Police Scotland watchdog, the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (PIRC).
Ms Laurie was sitting in the back of a black taxi at the junction of Stepps Road and Springboig Road at around 1.30am on Sunday when a green Vauxhall Astra slammed into the rear of the vehicle.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Vauxhall was being pursued by a police van at the time, after the 20-year-old driver allegedly failed to pull over when instructed to do so by officers.
A statement released by police on behalf of Ms Laurie family said: “She will be sadly missed by all the family.”
Her 52-year-old husband, Jamie, who was in the taxi with Mrs Laurie, was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary and remains in a serious but stable condition. The pair had been on their way home from their son’s wedding reception when the crash happened.
A 50-year-old man who was driving the taxi suffered minor injuries, as did a 20-year-old man who was driving the Vauxhall and a 16-year-old female who was a passenger in the Vauxhall.
A police source, who asked not to be named, said: “We were pursuing the vehicle when it crashed into the taxi.”
Police Scotland has now confirmed that the chase began in Springhill Trading Estate, continued along Edinburgh Road and ended when the car collided with the taxi close to Stepps Road and Springboig Road.
A 20-year-old man has been reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with alleged road traffic offences. He is expected to appear in court at a later date.
The force also said that the matter had been referred to PIRC for consideration as is "standard procedure" in such cases.
A spokesman for the PIRC said: “The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has instructed the Police Investigations & Review Commissioner to carry out an independent investigation into the circumstances leading up to a fatal road crash in Glasgow on November 29 2015.
“A vehicle was involved in a collision with a taxi, which was carrying two passengers.
“The 57-year-old woman died at the scene and the 52-year-old man, who was seriously injured, is being treated in hospital.
“A report on the Commissioner's findings will be submitted to the COPFS in due course.”
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Greater Glasgow Divisional Road Policing on 101.
Police Scotland were last year cleared of any wrongdoing after another car chase in Renfrewshire left two men seriously injured.
The men, aged 22 and 19, collided with a parked van in Glasgow Road, Paisley on April 7 2014 while trying to outrun the police at speeds of 70-80mph. Officers had begun to pursue their vehicle after a member of the public alerted them that the two men were “clearly drunk”.
A subsequent investigation by PIRC concluded that the officers had “behaved in a professional manner” and had “continued to keep a safe distance behind the car” during the chase.
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