The addictive need for speed at car ‘meets’ that ended in horrific death of a spectator

T’S just a matter of time before we have another fatality.” Those were the words of Steve Skilton, of Trafford Council, in June 2016, and they were to prove tragically prophetic.

He was arguing that something had to be done about Trafford Park’s notorious car cruising culture once and for all. For years, the area has been a hotspot for unofficial car ‘meets,’ where enthusiasts show off their high-performance, modified vehicles, with some doing dangerous driving stunts in front of boisterous crowds of hundreds.

Mr Skilton, backed by Greater Manchester Police, was calling for a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to be imposed. There had been one death in the area at 2014 - a motorcyclist was killed on Westinghouse Road - and the authorities were keen to prevent another.

A PSPO gives authorities extra powers to curb anti-social behaviour - in this case by issuing heavy on-the-spot fines or driving bans for things such as speeding, racing, ‘excessive revving of the engine’ and obstructing a highway.

In Trafford, where car cruisers were speeding down a 500m stretch of road and then performing stunts on the roundabouts at either end of it, the measure was ultimately approved imposed in February 2017 for a period of three years. But, within just 18 months, Mr Skelton’s stark prediction proved to be accurate.

On the night of May 31 this year, Scott Watkins, a 25-year-old driver in a BMW 330 attempting to ‘drift’ around the ‘Magic Roundabout’ at Europa Way, lost control and span wildly into a group of spectators with catastrophic results. Graphic mobile phone footage of the aftermath which later surfaced online was more reminiscent of a war zone than a summer’s night out.

Bodies were left strewn across the road, on the pavement and in bushes where they were treated by separate crews of paramedics. If not for the medics’ efforts, the death toll may well have been higher.

Nevertheless, 19-year-old Sophie Smith succumbed to serious head injuries and died in hospital the next day.

Her boyfriend Jordan Chidgey, who was standing next to her, suffered a shattered pelvis and broken kneecap and remains in a wheelchair.

In total, seven people were taken to hospital with injuries including a fractured skull, broken arms, legs, three lost teeth, loss of kidney function and bruising to the heart.

That tragedy was the result of a perfect storm. Here the M.E.N. unravels how it came to happen... The long, straight, quiet roads and extrawide roundabouts of Trafford Park designed to accommodate the articulated lorries coming in and out of the industrial estate - are considered the perfect setting for car meets.

Since at least 2010, they’ve happened almost every Friday night. Word spreads primarily through social media platforms - with organisers sometimes leaving it until the last minute to confirm the exact location.

Those who are engaging in illegal or anti-social behaviour then play a game of cat and mouse with police, moving from one spot to another to perform stunts, parking up when officers arrive.

Social media covering Trafford’s cruising scene shows how events have been playing out for years. People turn up to show off their cars, and this invariably attracts people who want to ‘doughnut’ and ‘drift’. Police get wind of what’s going on and break up the party.

Attendees who believe themselves to be doing nothing wrong resent the police activity and become more entrenched and determined to keep meeting. The scene moves on to a new place, and the cycle continues, as does the potential for accident.

On one social media page, organisers of a meet at Trafford Park described how police, after catching an MG driver racing, ‘blocked everyone in and handed