Islanders raising funds in honour of toddler killed by driver

Thursday 10 August 2017

A group of Islanders have set up a Facebook page in memory of Clinton Pringle, a three-year-old boy who was killed in June 2016 by a driver in Tunnell Street. They aim to raise funds for a memorial to be placed close to Millennium Park, where the fatal accident happened.

The campaigners are planning to start their fundraising today to tie in with the Battle of Flowers, and will also be collecting signatures for a petition.

The group is also in talks with a local football club to hold a memorial game in memory of Clinton. Proceeds from the game would go towards funding the memorial in honour of the little boy. 

The campaigners would like to see the memorial erected close to Millennium Park where Clinton was fatally hit by a van on 27 June 2016. He had been on holiday in Jersey from Scotland with his mum Stacey, to visit family. After being flown to Southampton, the toddler died from his injuries three days later.

The three islanders got together out of a desire to "do something." "I had to do something for this sweet little boy," said one of them. They met up for the first time just a week after the conclusion of the legal proceedings against a 39-year-old driver to set up the Facebook page. Rebekah Le Gal received an eight month prison sentence, suspended for two years, as well as a 30-month driving ban in July. 

St. Helier constable, Simon Crowcroft, is fully supporting the idea of the memorial. He told Express: "I had already spoken to the family about it. We will take guidance from the family about what they want to do. We don't know at this stage what it will look like or where it would be, but I think somewhere close to the town park would be a good fit."

Paul Newman, who runs the Handsoff campaign to reduce drivers' mobile phone use and is one of the three people behind the memorial appeal, launched a petition appealing for a review of the trial and harsher sentences against drivers using their mobile phones while behind the wheel. Published on Tuesday, the petition, which describes the outcome of the trial as a "miscarriage of justice" and calls for the case to be reviewed, has already received over 3,000 signatures. 

Michael Pringle, Clinton's dad, commented on the petition saying: "People in the island know that there is something far wrong with the verdict in this case. Like our family, they are rightly outraged and want to do something to change the way things are done in Jersey. Neither we nor the campaigners may be able to change the outcome of the Le Gal trial but they can use their voices and go some way to ensuring that a travesty like this never happens to another family. While the sentence may have been unduly lenient, that is not the main concern here.

"The value of Clinton's life, a loving and innocent three-year-old boy, was basically written off by the Royal Court and I personally have no doubt that we were never meant to get any semblance of justice for Clinton. I totally agree with the campaigners that the court proceedings should be looked at again, fully and by an independent body. Our family are outsiders, we are not islanders but the genuine good people of Jersey are the best placed people to make those in authority sit-up and listen to their concerns."