A WEST BERKSHIRE police officer is facing charges of misconduct in public office following alleged inappropriate relationships with women.

Oliver Perry-Smith will appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court next week following an investigation into his behaviour by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

This is not the first time the watchdog has investigated Thames Valley Police officers, however.

READ MORE: Police officer charged after alleged inappropriate behaviour

A number of press releases on the IOPC website show IOPC probes relating to deaths caused by collisions with police cars over the past eight years.

All of the officers investigated in these cases were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Here’s a look back at the watchdog’s investigations.

Death of Aston McLean Williams

TVP officers were cleared of allegations of gross misconduct after a man named Aston McLean Williams died following a collision with a police vehicle on August 6, 2014.

The watchdog’s investigation came to a conclusion a year-and-a-half later in January 2016.

It concluded there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against he police constable driving the police car and a second constable who was in close proximity to Aston.

The two officers, referred to as Officer N and Officer P did not commit gross misconduct, according to the IOPC.

READ MORE: Anti-Brexit protestors drown out Nigel Farage at Berkshire church

Death of Darran Walker

Officers were found not to have breached standards of professional behaviour after a man named Darran Walker, 36, died when his car collided with a van on the M4 near Slough in December 2016.

Prior to the collision, Mr Walker had been pursued by a marked TVP car with its blue lights flashing.

The officers initially approached Mr Walker after suspecting he had been involved in a collision with a barrier but the deceased drove away down the motorway.

Police ended the pursuit when Walker drove the wrong way down the hard shoulder on the slip road.

Following an investigation, it was found the officers involved in the officers did not breach behaviour standards.

Double fatal collision in Reading

Two octogenarians tragically died following a collison with an unmarked police car on the Bath Road in Calcot in Reading in January 2018.

Mrs Ann Valley, 87, and Mrs Gwyneth DeCamps, 88, were travelling in a Nissan Micra.

READ MORE: Rare white deer spotted in Berkshire

A TVP officer was on route to an emergency call in Reading in an unmarked police dog-handler vehicle with lights and sirens on when the collision occurred.

However, despite a IOPC investigation, the officer driving the van was cleared of any indication of misconduct.

IOPC Regional Director Jonathan Green said “The consequences of this incident were tragic and my thoughts are with both families and all those affected. After conducting a thorough investigation we found that the officer’s driving was in line with police policies for responding to emergency calls.”

Double fatal incident involving death of a police officer

Thames Valley Police motorcyclist PC James Dixon and passenger Gladys Goodwin died following a collision in December 2017.

The pair crashed on the A4 near Twyford when PC Dixon was out on a HMRC training exercise.

READ MORE: 13 covid hotspots in Berkshire

Following an investigation by the IOPC, the watchdog identified an ‘apparent confusion around police exemptions regarding speed being applied by officers.’

A statement read: “All those involved in training exercises need to have a common understanding of the parameters that impact on risk assessments and safety.”

IOPC Regional Director Sarah Green added: “We found that although the training exercise PC Dixon was taking part in did adhere to policy and procedures, improvements could be made to ensure all officers are aware of when speed exemptions are applicable or not.”

The driver of the car in which Mrs Goodwin was a passenger was acquitted of two counts of causing death by careless driving following a trial at Reading Crown Court on 21 January 2020.