(Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) (Lab):...In August 2017, a
22-month-old girl, Pearl Melody Black from my constituency of
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, was tragically killed while walking
with her father and brother. Pearl was killed by an unoccupied
vehicle that rolled from a private drive in Merthyr Tydfil on to a
highway and down a hill, crashing into a wall that subsequently
crushed her and injured her father and brother. In the months after
the incident, officers from the serious collision unit of
South Wales Policeworked tirelessly in putting a
case together to provide justice for the family. In short, all
tests concluded that the car was mechanically sound and that it had
rolled because the handbrake was not fully engaged and the
automatic transmission was not fully placed into “park” mode.
The case was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service in March 2018
and was worked on by the London office as well as an independent
QC hired by the CPS to consult. Everyone was hopeful of a
conviction under the death by dangerous driving category, and the
CPS also looked into other possible options. In June 2018,
however, the CPS stated that it was unable to send the case to
court as a glitch in the law states that the vehicle must have
started its journey on a public road to make a prosecution under
the Road Traffic Act 1988. Even though Pearl was killed on a
public road, the fact that the vehicle started its descent from a
private drive has meant that prosecution was not possible. The
coroner stated that the vehicle was in fact well maintained and
it seemed that the issue was very much driver operation. The
inquest heard that the handbrake had not been fully applied in
the “park” mode.
Over the past two years, I have been meeting Pearl’s parents,
Gemma and Paul, who I know will be watching me present this Bill
today, to look at what could be done to change the legislation so
that other families do not face this kind of injustice in future.
The inquest into Pearl’s death was heard in October 2018 and the
outcome was “accident”. However, with the support of
South Wales Police and the CPS, Pearl’s parents
sought a change in the law, and are continuing to do so, to stop
other families being in a similar situation of not being able to
secure justice, due to a legal loophole, following such a tragic
and completely preventable incident as this. As Gemma and Paul
acknowledge, it will not help to bring justice for Pearl, as
legislation is not retrospective, but if this law can be changed
to prevent anyone else from suffering this injustice again, that
may provide some comfort...
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