TWO police forces have reviewed their cross-border communications policies following the death of a teenager who crashed a stolen quad bike.

Both North Yorkshire Police and Durham Constabulary reviewed their policies after Dillon Turner died in Ingleton, Teesdale, on June 14, 2016.

The 19-year-old had been involved in a police pursuit after he evaded a police stinger at Winston Bridge, that afternoon.

He had previously been seen recovering the quad bike from The Stang forest, near Barnard Castle, where officers from North Yorkshire had been lying in wait.

An issue with the force's radio communications meant Mr Turner got away from officers but after speeding through several Teesdale villages, he crashed the quad bike into a lamp post while attempting to get past a marked police car coming in the opposite direction.

He suffered catastrophic injuries and died in hospital later that day.

Sitting at Crook Coroner's Court yesterday, assistant coroner Oliver Longstaff, concluded the week-long inquest with a narrative verdict.

He rejected a submission by Richard Copnall, on behalf of Mr Turner's family, that Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights - namely his right to life - may have been breached.

He said Mr Turner was not being "actively pursued" at the time of the collision and the police officer driving the vehicle, PS Nicola Thorns, had been "deprived of the opportunity" to avoid Mr Turner after an attempt to patch the two force's radio channels had failed.

Following the inquest, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) carried out an investigation into the actions of the police prior to Mr Turner's death.

The Northern Echo:

A statement released by the IOPC said it did not find the actions of any of the officers or staff involved justified disciplinary proceedings but it had made recommendations to North Yorkshire Police to help them improve how officers communicate with one another during similar incidents. Durham Constabulary has also reviewed and updated its training in relation to cross-border communications.

The IOPC investiagtion was completed in February 2017.

IOPC regional director Miranda Biddle said: “Whenever someone’s life is lost in such circumstances it is very sad, and our thoughts remain with Mr Turner’s family and friends, and all those affected by the events of that day. We carried out a very thorough investigation into the actions of both police forces leading up to Mr Turner’s death and didn’t find any issues concerning the conduct of those involved.

“I’m pleased that North Yorkshire Police has been proactive in learning from this incident, to help avoid any repeat of the communications issues we identified. This learning is especially important for a police force that relies on cross-border collaboration with other forces. Durham has also been proactive in responding to the incident, by reviewing its own training and practices for cross border pursuits.”

Deputy chief constable Phil Cain, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “As a force, we were deeply saddened by Mr Turner’s death, not least the officers involved in the operation at the time, and our thoughts and sympathies remain with Mr Turner’s family and friends. As the Independent Office for Police Conduct has highlighted, no evidence of misconduct on the part of our officers has been found and we immediately reviewed our cross-border communications with our neighbouring forces as a result of this tragic incident.

"The learning taken from this incident has been fed into current and future cross-border crime reduction operations.”

Mr Turner's family declined to comment.