I'd say, given the circumstances of flying a (very) light single, at night, with limited flying experience, over a very congested area, the pilots were lucky to walk away from that. I also think an organisation who thinks a couple of hundred hours flying experience and an aircraft like that a suitable formula for night police ops is a little misguided. Please tell me things are different 10 years on.
Perhaps the one bonus of all his 497 hours total flying on the one simple type, meant he was ready for such a situation. I remember nights above Belfast always twitching at every unusual vibe or sound.