The victim has been named as 17-year-old Tamzin Hall (Picture: Emily Manley)
A 17-year-old girl who was killed after exiting a police car in the middle of the M5 has been named.
Tamzin Hall, from Wellington, died after being hit by a vehicle travelling southbound between junction 24 for Bridgwater and junction 25 for Taunton shortly after 11pm on Monday 11 November.
She exited the police vehicle after it pulled over on the northbound side of the motorway while transporting her.
A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is now carrying out its own investigation into what happened.
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.’
IOPC director David Ford 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.’
Avon and Somerset Police 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.’
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