"I knew it wasn't right to text"

Saturday 17 June 2017

A 39-year-old woman who is accused of causing the death of three-year-old Clinton Pringle has told the Royal Court she knew it was wrong to text while driving, but that she tried to do it in a safe area.

Rebekah Le Gal is pleading not guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Mrs Le Gal's advocate, Matthew Jowitt, asked her at what point she had first become aware of her son's message, to which she wanted to reply. She said that it was somewhere on Tunnel Street, between the Paint Pot Colour Centre and Ruellan's Garage. She explained: "I saw it on the screen but I didn't want to type as I was driving on that part of the road. I know it was wrong and it's illegal. I went past the Jersey Gas entrance and got to the part of the road where there is pavement on either side. There were no cars coming, no one on either side of the pavement so I slowed right down to pretty much a virtual standstill. 

"My car is an automatic so it was edging forward and I took my phone out. I remember being really aware of the road ahead. I swiped to unlock my phone, put my pin in and it opened on the message box as it had been the last page I was on. I saw the number I had typed to my son, while in my driveway, in the typing box and pressed 'send'. Then I put my phone down and resumed driving."

She also explained that as she was negotiating the bend where the fatal collision happened she was looking ahead of her and trying to stay within the lines. As she was taking the corner, she felt she had driven over something small. When she saw Clinton's mother, Stacey Pringle, his aunt and a witness crouched at the back of her van, she thought it had been a cat or a dog. It's only after moving her vehicle and getting out of it that she realised she had ran over Clinton. She said: "I was in complete and utter shock. It hit me harder with every second because I didn't see him. I kept thinking 'Why did I not see him?"

She told Court that in the days following the accident she was bedridden. "It was like the world stopped. I couldn't talk or eat, I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. When I heard that Clinton had died, it was the worst day of my life. I screamed. I wanted to get out of my skin. It is the worst loss in the world to lose your child, it's not right. You shouldn't have to go through this. After the accident, I kept praying that he would survive."

During her cross-examination by HM Solicitor General Mark Temple, Mrs Le Gal was asked why she didn't mention her mobile phone during her police interview. She said: "Every second the shock hit more and more. If I had remembered I would have told them, it had no bearing on what happened. All the time I had to explain why I didn't see him, all my energy was focused on that." 

She denied having tried to conceal her phone, which was found in a jumper between the two front seats three days after the collision. She explained that she was concerned that teenagers hanging around the scene of the accident would steal it. 

The Solicitor General then asked her: "If you had typed the message in your driveway as you say you did, then your son would have just received a random number. He wouldn't have known what it was." She said that she wasn't in a hurry but that it would have taken more time to go back in the house and tell him so she just typed the message "quickly."

He then told her that there was 51 seconds between the moment her son's message was sent and the time she replied, suggesting that she had driven a long time on Tunnel Street and past the 'No entry' sign before picking up her phone and replying. She replied: "I knew it wasn't right to text so I purposefully chose an area of the road that was quiet and where nobody would be exiting premises." 

He then continued saying: "I am going to suggest you that you typed 11 numbers, it wasn't pre-typed and then pressed 'send.' That is why it took you 12 seconds. You were driving with your phone in your non-dominant hand so it was difficult to do. When you finally pressed 'send', you were in the shaded area right down the bend. It must be right because if you were paying attention you must see Clinton Pringle. As he crosses Tunnel Street from the passageway, he is in your view for three seconds." 

She simply replied: "That's not what happened. I remember specifically looking ahead. I should have been more aware of my surroundings and looked to the side. I know it doesn't change anything but I wish that I had. I was more focused on taking the bend. I wasn't as aware as I should have been and looking in the wrong direction."

Both the Prosecution and the Defence's case are now closed. Both sides will make their submissions to Jurats Mike Liston and Jane Ronge on Monday morning before Julian Clyde-Smith gives his directions.