A crash between a police vehicle and a runaway cow that prompted public outrage last month is being treated as a criminal and internal misconduct matter.
Surrey Police have knocked on around 290 doors along the route in Staines where its officers repeatedly rammed the animal, named Beau Lucy, with a car in the early hours of June 15.
Footage from the incident spread widely on the internet the following morning, with then-Home Secretary James Cleverly saying it ‘appears to be unnecessarily heavy handed’.
The force said it has contacted 75 witnesses and is currently reviewing more than 250 video clips sent in by concerned members of the public.
The officer involved in the crash stepped down the following day while investigations into the incident were carried out.
Beau Lucy remains in the care of her owner after receiving injuries in the incident.
She initially escaped from her home farm at around 9pm on June 14 and was reported to be on the loose until around 12.30am.
At the time, her owner Rob said: ‘I think she will limp for a month. She hasn’t broken anything but has a huge great gouge in her leg.
‘We touched her head yesterday and it was obvious there was pain.’
Deputy Chief Constable Nev Kemp said the force’s latest update ‘demonstrates why a thorough investigation is important, as it ensures all potential criminal and misconduct matters are clearly understood’, adding that it ‘does, of course, take time’.
He continued: ‘Since the incident, we have received in excess of 20,000 messages on social media and 2,000 complaints from the public, highlighting the strength of feeling about this case.
‘It is therefore of greatest importance to conduct a diligent investigation so we can provide the owner of Beau Lucy, and the public, with answers as to how this incident happened and the events which led up to it.
‘We remain committed to providing significant updates relating to this incident on our website as and when we have them.’
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