A total of seven police officers have been served with misconduct notices after a crash which killed three people in Cardiff, the police watchdog has confirmed.

Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Rafel Jeanne, 24, were killed in the crash in the St Mellons area of Cardiff last March.

Two others – Shane Loughlin and Sophie Russon – were seriously injured in the crash.

The five were discovered inside a Volkswagen Tiguan in a wooded area just off the A48, shortly after midnight on 6 March.

They had not been seen or heard from for nearly two days and their relatives had reported them missing on 4 March.

Read more: How the search unfolded

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said its investigation was now at an “advanced stage” having gathered and analysed a “significant amount of evidence”.

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Two officers are under investigation – one for potential misconduct and the other for possible gross misconduct – concerning their review of missing person reports.

Another officer is being probed for potential gross misconduct concerning their face-to-face communication with family members at a police station.

Two officers are also being investigated for potential gross misconduct regarding whether or not they carried out searches of the homes of two of the people who were initially reported missing.

One of these two officers is also under criminal investigation for allegedly falsifying a witness statement.

Two other officers are being investigation for potential misconduct surrounding alleged remarks made at the scene of the collision.

The IOPC said that issuing misconduct notices did not necessarily mean that disciplinary or criminal proceedings would follow.

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IOPC director David Frost said the IOPC’s thoughts and sympathies were with everyone affected by the incident.

“Since the start of our investigation, we have expanded our work to investigate a number of detailed complaints from the families affected,” he said.

“As a result, seven Gwent Police officers have been advised that they are under investigation.”

The IOPC said it was still considering further evidence and its investigation was ongoing.

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