Girl, 17, killed on M5 in Somerset after getting out of police car named

A 17-year-old girl who died in a collision on the M5 after leaving a police vehicle has been named by Avon and Somerset Police as Tamzin Hall.

The teenager, from Wellington, Somerset, died in a collision with a vehicle that was travelling southbound between junction 24 (Bridgwater) and junction 25 (Taunton) shortly after 11pm on Monday.

“She had exited a police vehicle that had stopped on the northbound side while transporting her, moments before the incident,” Avon and Somerset Police said.

“A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.”

Police named Tamzin Hall in an update on Wednesday after the formal identification process was completed.

The force has said: “Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Tamzin’s family for their devastating loss. A specially trained family liaison officer remains in contact with them to keep them updated and to provide support. The family have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said: “Tamzin Hall was being taken by two officers to a custody suite at Bridgwater in a police car at the time from an address in Taunton.

“The police car stopped on the northbound carriageway of the motorway, between junctions 25 and 24 just before 11pm.

“At this point Tamzin got out of the car and shortly afterwards was involved in a collision with a member of the public’s vehicle on the southbound carriageway.

“Although an ambulance was called and paramedics attended within a few minutes, Tamzin sadly died at the scene.”

David Ford, the watchdog‘s director, said: “This was a truly tragic incident and my thoughts are with Tamzin’s family and friends, and everyone affected by the events of that evening.

“We are contacting her family to express our sympathies, explain our role and set out how our investigation will progress. We will keep them fully updated as our investigation continues.

“Our role is to independently investigate all the circumstances surrounding this incident.

“As soon as we were notified by Avon and Somerset Police, we sent our investigators to the police post-incident procedure to begin gathering evidence.”