'We were all in shock' - Junior officer testifies in deaths at sea inquest

A junior officer aboard a police vessel involved in a fatal collision has told the court it was his first time aboard a boat at night.

Officer Three told the court he had never been trained for operations at sea and he didn't understand most of what was said that night, as he didn't speak Spanish. He remembers all three RGP officers being in shock at what had happened.

Officer Three was giving evidence this morning in the ongoing inquest into the deaths of Mustafa Dris Mohamed and Mohamed Abdeslam Ahmed, who were killed following a collision at sea in March 2020.

Officer Three was assigned to an RGP vessel that night to make up the necessary numbers aboard the boat.

He told the court he had never been on a boat at night.  He had never received training in marine operations, and it was one of the first times he had been aboard a police boat at all.

Evidence shows that the pursuit and collision which resulted in two deaths in March 2020 took place in Spanish water, Officers One and Two, the RGP coxswain and his second in command that night, have both testified that they believed they were in Gibraltar at both times. 

Today, Officer Three told the court he had no idea what an AIS was at the time, or that the navigation devices was meant to be turned on.  When asked whether he, at any point, knew he was in Spanish waters, he said he remembered seeing lights in the distance from what he thought was a Spanish town, but he didn’t know where they were, and distance was difficulty to gauge.

He said he didn’t know how to tell where Gibraltar waters ended and that he had been disoriented by the chase, which he said included objects being thrown at them from the RHIB, which cut in front of them, made sharp U-turns and took S-shape bends.

He told the court he was given a light and told to flash it on and off at the other vessel, to disorientate and dazzle those aboard

He said he felt safe whilst he was aboard the boat.

Officer Three told jurors that Officers One and Two mostly spoke in Spanish throughout the night, to each other and on their radio and phones, which he did not understand.

Chris Finch, representing the deceased, asked whether after the collision, he had thought to help the injured occupants of the RHIB or call for assistance.  Officer Three said he was guided by his senior officers.

Mr Finch highlighted to the court that all three officers had sought legal advice from the same lawyer in the days after the collision, and that all three officers had then made a statement on the same day.

Jamas Hodivala KC, representing Officer One, suggested Mr Finch was implying that this lawyer had coached the officers in what to say, or that the three officers had conspired over what to say happened that night.

Officer Three denied both suggestions and told the court there were never any conversations between the officers about their statements and if he had ever met them at the lawyer’s office they only engaged in friendly conversation.