Policewoman dies after car crash

A policewoman has died after her armoured Land Rover patrol vehicle crashed in the North today.

She died in hospital several hours after the accident outside Desertmartin in Co Derry in which four colleagues were also injured.

They were travelling in convoy with several other Police Service Land Rovers along the Desertmartin to Moneymore road when the accident occurred.

None of the other vehicles were understood to be involved in the crash, said a police spokesman.

Three other officers are in serious conditions in hospital and a fifth escaped with minor injuries, said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, an ex-police officer died when he crashed his car while being pursued by a police car in Co Antrim.

The BMW driver slammed into a tree before crashing into a field outside Ballymoney.

He was named by the Police Service as Trevor Barr, 50, from the Drumnamallaght area of Ballymoney.

At the time of the accident Mr Barr was being “followed” by police after failing to stop, said a Police Service spokesman.

The crash has been referred to the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan , for investigation.

Anyone who witnessed the crash or who has information about it has been asked to contact the Ombudsman.

In another unrelated accident a woman was killed and two other people injured when two cars collided on the Hillhead Road outside Ballyclare, Co Antrim.