Brothers, 6 and 2, killed in hit-run
‘Drink-driver’ ploughs into youngsters as they cross the road with their mother
A BOY of two and his six-yearold brother have died following a hit- and- run crash as they crossed the road with their mother.
The younger child is believed to have been in a buggy when it was struck by a black hatchback yesterday.
Police described the incident – which left witnesses weeping in the street and the boys’ shoes scattered across the road – as ‘ a parent’s worst nightmare’.
Last night a 53-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman were being held on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink-driving.
The tragedy took place in Stoke, Coventry, as the older boy was holding his mother’s hand while she pushed her young son in the buggy across the road.
A 15-year-old Ford Focus was found abandoned with its windscreen smashed and its airbags deployed a short distance from the scene of the collision at 2pm.
Locals said the area had been blighted by speeding drivers.
One witness who saw a couple being bundled into a police car following the tragedy described them as looking drunk, adding that the woman was ‘off her face’. Another resident said the two suspects had fled the scene but were found by police hiding in fenced- off open ground nearby.
He added: ‘The man was trying to fight with the officers and get away. The woman was really loud and seemed drunk.’
A resident, who asked not to be named, described seeing a ‘smashed’ pram in the road after the hit-and-run alongside a child’s push-along car. She added: ‘There was debris all over the road.’ Another home- owner added: ‘It appears that the car drove for less than half a mile and the occupants then got out and ran away.’
Witnesses also told how members of the public restrained the driver and passenger as they tried to flee the scene. One said: ‘I heard screaming and a car revving off. I only saw the back of the car screaming around a corner and it was suddenly surrounded by people. ‘A guy shouted, “it’s them” and suddenly he had the car door open and was trying to snatch the keys.
‘The driver looked like he was trying to wrestle the keys away. From what I could make out, another person stood in front of the car to stop him driving off.’
Wendy Baker posted online: ‘The driver kept shouting it wasn’t him driving and saying it wasn’t his car and the woman was hitting a man that was restraining the driver and then they just ran off.
‘It was awful to see such pain in the family and tiny kiddies. I picked up their little shoes and hats and my heart breaks for them.’ Both boys were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The toddler was pronounced dead shortly after arrival, while the six-year- old later succumbed to his injuries. Posting on Facebook, Taya Stone said she had to negotiate the roads every day on the school run, adding: ‘ When will something be done about the speed!’ Jo Taylor called for speed humps in the area, adding: ‘It’s like a race track.’ Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, of West Midlands Police, said: ‘This is a parent’s worst nightmare and it’s impossible to imagine their grief.’
‘Awful to see such pain’