Michael Cooper was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday. A former detective chief inspector was jailed for three years and seven months.
He had blacked out at the wheel, killing a father-of-two in a crash. This occurred despite a doctor telling him to stop driving a decade before.
Former Officer Jailed After Fatal Collision
Cooper was a serving officer with Derbyshire Police when he crashed his unmarked police car in Etwall in September 2021. The incident killed educational psychologist James Bane, 50, and also threw a woman into the air.
The 55-year-old pleaded guilty last week to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
The Crash in Etwall
Samuel Skinner KC, prosecuting, described how Bane, an educational psychologist, and a colleague had just left a nearby school. They were stood near parked cars in Egginton Road.
Cooper, who was on duty and using the black Peugeot 208 without authorisation, had left Etwall Leisure Centre. He was driving without his seatbelt on.
Car data showed Cooper’s foot was pressed on the accelerator when it swung to one side. Bane’s companion was struck and thrown into the air, while James Bane was crushed between two parked cars shunted together by the impact.
The court heard Bane, who had two teenage children, died in the road of pelvic injuries.
Undisclosed Medical History
After the collision, Cooper, from Etwall, was “confused” and told members of the public he was a painter and decorator. He also told them he did not know who the prime minister was, the court heard.
In a subsequent police interview, Cooper suggested he may have passed out at the wheel but refused officers permission to access his medical records.
However, the court heard he had been asked by a neurologist in 2009 to stop driving. He was also told to contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) because he had episodes of randomly collapsing.
Skinner said: “The defendant should not have been behind the wheel of that unmarked police car that day because he had an unexplained medical history of blackouts that occurred without warning.”
Skinner added: “Years before this incident, the defendant had been told by a consultant neurologist not to drive and to inform the DVLA about his blackouts.” He further stated: “But he did not tell the DVLA about the blackouts, neither did he tell his employer or car insurer.”
Impact on Family and Force Dismissal
Skinner added that in August 2024 Cooper was found to have committed gross misconduct. He would have been dismissed from the force had he not already resigned.
In a victim impact statement, Bane’s wife Katherine said: “When James was killed everything I knew was ripped away.” She added: “Our family unit was torn apart and everything about my life changed overnight and I became a single parent looking after two broken children.”
Katherine Bane also stated: “I’ve had to live with the loss of my husband, loss of the father of my children, loss of the future we had planned and the loss of five years trapped in a truly hideous no man’s land waiting.”
Michael Cooper was jailed for three years and seven months following his guilty pleas.