A police officer appeared in court today accused of causing the death of a car passenger by dangerous driving.

Pc Gary Smith, 26, is accused of killing Bhupinder Kaur, a mother of three, in a three-car collision in Wolverhampton.

Magistrates in Solihull granted bail to Pc Smith, who is stationed at Wolverhampton’s Low Hill police station, and he will appear before Warwick Crown Court on July 10.

The officer, whose address was given as Coventry Road, Sheldon, Birmingham, faces a single charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

The prosecution follows an inquiry conducted by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into the circumstances surrounding the crash, which happened in the Moseley area of Wolverhampton on December 17 last year.

The collision involved a Vauxhall Astra police car on the way to an immediate response call, a Renault Clio and a Ford Escort in which Mrs Kaur, 45, was travelling.