"I shouted at the van to stop but it continued to go"

Tuesday 13 June 2017

The trial of a 39-year-old woman who is accused of having caused the death of a toddler by dangerous driving has heard from his mum and her sister who both explained how they had tried to stop the van.

The prosecution, led by HM Solicitor General Mark Temple, suggested in his opening speech that Rebekah Le Gal, who is pleading not guilty, was texting moments before the incident which killed three-year-old Clinton Pringle.

In Court yesterday, Stacey Pringle, Clinton's mum, explained that before the accident she had been to McDonald's with her sister and their children. They were on the way to Millennium Park and used the cut-through on Belmont Road to get there. Toward the end of the passage way, Clinton had asked to get out of the pram to follow his cousin and Mrs Pringle let him as she "thought it was safe." As the toddler ran ahead, she saw the VW Transporter approach and shouted at Clinton to get off the road as he had stopped to look back at her.  

She then explained: "I saw the van and I shouted at it to stop, but it continued to go. I thought it was actually going to. I hit the side of the van with my hand just before it came to a stop."

"In my mind Clinton wasn't where the van was. I went between the wall and the van and expected to see him on the other side, but he wasn't. Then I heard a Portuguese boy, who was at the back of the van, shouting that Clinton was under the van."

She then explained that when the driver got out of the van, she asked what she had done and said Clinton had ran in front of her. To which Ms Pringle said she replied: "He was clearly in the middle of the road, you mowed him down."

Clinton's aunt, Melissa Anderson, was also called in to give evidence. She said: "I first saw the van on my right-hand side, it was just at the point where the road comes upon a bump. We tried to get it to stop. We were screaming and shouting and making as much as an effort to make it stop. Then it went slowly around the corner. Clinton was in the road. In my mind I kept thinking 'She must have seen him because she slowed down."

The Defendant's Advocate, Matthew Jowitt, challenged both of their statements stating that they were still under the archway when Clinton ran ahead of them and thus couldn't see the van.

He said: "I am going to suggest that you were both standing by the bollard when your daughter ran ahead because you were both lured into a false sense of security by the road design. You were still in the cut-through when Clinton ran out. It wasn't a case of the van suddenly appearing out of nowhere, it was a case of you coming out of the arch and suddenly seeing the van for the first time."

Francisco Gouveia, who was waiting for a friend at the site, was also called in by the prosecution. He explained that he first heard Clinton's mum screaming at the van to stop. He said: "As the van was going round the bend, she was screaming and waving at the van to stop. The driver was looking to the left as she was driving through the bend."

His account was challenged by the Defence's advocate who said it was a "false memory" and that he couldn't have seen the driver from where he was standing. 

Ms Le Gal, who is set to testify in Court later this week, had her head down the whole time the witnesses were giving evidence. She appeared to be crying as they mentioned the minutes after the accident.