Nursery Nurse Named As Car Chase Crash Victim

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Police were responding to reports of a drone being flown near Wandsworth prison

Craig Kearney with Acacia Smith. Picture: Facebook

The woman killed during a police pursuit which began near Wandsworth Prison has been named as 25-year-old Acacia Smith, a nursery nurse from Acton.

She died in the early hours of Tuesday morning (9 August) when the car she was a passenger in smashed into a wall and burst into flames near Wandsworth Bridge Road in Fulham. Her boyfriend Craig Kearney, who was driving the car, is currently in a critical condition in hospital. The car had been followed by police after being spotted in the vicinity of Wandsworth Prison. They were responding to a report that a drone was being flown over the prison grounds.

The former Acton High School pupil also known as Caysha had worked at a number of nurseries. Her friends have said that they have no idea what she might have been doing in the area of Wandsworth Prison at that time of night. Reportedly a drone was found in the wreckage of the car the couple were driving.

A spokeswoman for HM Prison Service, “On Tuesday 9 August, staff at HMP Wandsworth alerted the Metropolitan police to a drone flying in close proximity to the prison, as is standard practice”.

A formal investigation into the circumstances of the crash has been launched by the police watchdog.

The Metropolitan Police are not making further comment on the circumstances of the crash at this point.

August 10, 2016