Was Wigan hit-and-run victim attacked by police shortly before his death?

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is probing allegations that 35-year-old Gareth Roper was attacked in the back of a police van after being arrested for a minor incident at his Bryn home, then abandoned barefoot in Platt Bridge to make his way home four miles away on foot.

A number of officers have been put on restricted duties while the investigation continues.

Rugby-playing father of six Mr Roper was found dead at the side of the road on Lily Lane, Bamfurlong, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

In an exclusive interview with wigantoday and the Wigan Post, his widow Rachel said that the entire tragedy was “totally avoidable.”

A 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspion of causing Mr Roper’s death by dangerous driving and failing to stop after a collision.

The IOPC has issued a fresh statement about the night, not least because many people had been wrongly deducing that its inquiry concerned a police car chase.

Mrs Roper, a 35-year-old private carer, said today that her children, aged between 12 years and 11 months old, were missing the “best dad in the world” and she was doing her utmost to rebuild their shattered world without him.

Police had been called to the Ropers’ house in Grange Road, Bryn, at around 3.30am after Mrs Roper reported a breach of the peace involving her husband.

He had had a few drinks and he eventually fell asleep, at which point Mrs Roper rang the police again to cancel the call because she felt the incident had blown over.

But four officers in a patrol car and a van arrived at the house anyway.

Mrs Roper came downstairs to find him being put into the van dressed only in his underwear. She says she got together some clothes which he put on but the officers wouldn’t let her hand over her husband’s phone and shoes.

The vehicles then left and that was the last time she saw him alive. Less than an hour later a taxi driver found Mr Roper collapsed at the side of the road on Lily Lane.

Later that week, after the incident was made public, a friend of Mr Roper came forward to say he had seen him in Platt Bridge minutes before the fatality.

He told investigators that Mr Roper said he had been arrested, taken all the way from Bryn to Platt Bridge where he had been “battered” by his captors before being “dumped” from the van outside Iceland on Templeton Road. Barefoot and phoneless he then tried to walk home, meeting the friend en route who described Mr Roper as “delerious.”

It is understood the first police on the crash scene were the officers who arrested him.

A 29-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of causing Mr Roper’s death by dangerous driving and failing to stop after an accident. It is believed that officers investigating the death recovered an abandoned car on Harvey Lane.

Police told Mrs Roper that, given the nature of the injuries, death would have been instantaneous.

She said: “This is all wrong. None of this should have happened. The whole thing was totally avoidable.

“The police have a duty of care and they did not keep my husband safe. I am now trying to get my six children’s shattered lives back to normal without him. Gareth’s mum has been very helpful.”

A GMPspokesperson said: “Due to previous police contact with Mr Roper prior to his death, Greater Manchester Police referred this case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct who are now leading the investigation into this case.

“This is clearly a very tragic incident whereby a family has lost a loved one, and we are wholly committed to supporting the IOPC with their investigation to ensure the circumstances prior to Mr Roper’s death are fully understood, and should any wrongdoing be found, appropriate action will be taken.”

An IOPC spokesman said: “We are currently independently investigating four Greater Manchester Police officers who had contact with Gareth Roper in the hours before his death in Bamfurlong, Wigan, on January 1.

“We will be reviewing evidence including police body-worn video and CCTV footage, as well as radio transmissions, as part of our inquiries.

“Our thoughts remain with Mr Roper’s loved ones and all those affected by his death.”

Mr Roper was a plasterer by trade who had initially been self-employed but had recently got a job with Preston-based 6360 which his wife said he absolutely loved.

She added: “He managed to be the best dad in the world while working every hour God sent as well so that his six kids wanted for nothing. They were spoilt rotten.

“He would go swimming with them and take them on motorbikes; he’d watch their hobbies then go back to work.

“He would do anything for anyone. He was a quiet person but he had a fun side and made everyone laugh. He had a lot of friends whom he had grown up with.”

And it was some of these friends who had encouraged him to rekindle his interest in rugby league. As a youngster he had played for Ashton Bears and St Jude’s before other hobbies took over.

He had joined Spring View about 18 months before his death and had performed so well that he was voted the Players’ Player, Man of Steel.

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