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A convenience store manager still has nightmares more than two years after a police officer crashed into his car while on duty, causing life shattering injuries.
Saravanamughu Kumaresan, 57, a Maidstone Premier Store manager, had his right collarbone broken in March 2018 when PC Mark Sloane lost control of his vehicle.
Watch Mr Kumaresan's car spin 360 degrees after being hit by PC's Mark Sloane vehicle
He had just completed a 10-hour shift and was loading his car with essential provisions for the elderly when the patrol car skidded into his Chevrolet, causing it to spin 360 degrees.
At a Kent Police hearing last week, PC Sloane, who had been responding to a burglary during the Beast from the East storm, admitted misconduct and was given management advice, which is the lowest level of misconduct and which Mr Kumaresan described as just a "slap on the wrist".
After the crash, which happened in the store's Courteney Road car park, the father-of-one was not even able to comb his own hair or feed himself, relying on his wife Sivaghilaga, a primary school teacher and university student son, Vish, for everything.
This caused the family much stress and Sivaghilaga even had to take time off to care for her husband.
He was unable to drive for 12 months and the break will take almost another year to fully heal.
Now more independent but still in a lot of pain, he has been forced to hire more workers at his shops, to carry out the physical tasks he can no longer do. This has taken a financial toll.
Mr Kumaresan confesses to being frightened now when he sees blue lights and still having nightmares of the collision.
Returning to the scene of the collision also bring back painful memories.
The manager of 12 years said: "He should have taken more care. He never considered it's a residential area with cars parked on both sides. He didn't consider the conditions. He has been given a pat on the wrist."
PC Sloane was driving at 56mph in a 30mph and he convicted of careless driving at Woolwich Crown Court, with eight penalty points put on his licence.
On April 29, a letter arrived telling Mr Kumaresan that he had until May 1 to request questions which could be put to the officer by the chair. The letter was dated April 24.
"They have had two years to deal with this. They never apologised. They never contacted me. They could have come to my shop and spoken to me," he said.
English is not Mr Kumaresan first language and because he was not able to sit down with his son and have the time to write a though-out response, he did not email any questions.
The misconduct panel considered evidence given by Mr Kumaresan and witnesses during the crown court trial.
Following an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), an independent panel found PC Sloane had breached the standards of professional behaviour.
'They have had two years to deal with this, they never apologised, they never contacted me...'
The panel decided it was “a one-off lapse falling at the bottom end of the scale of misconduct.”
An IOPC spokesperson said: "We conducted a thorough, robust investigation which resulted in a criminal trial where an officer was convicted of careless driving.
"We also decided he should be subject to a gross misconduct hearing and the force agreed. The IOPC were present for the virtual hearing, which Kent Police organised."
