What can the authorities do after the ‘Magic Roundabout’ tragedy

INSPECTOR Daniel Byrne, from GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said he hoped the catastrophic events of May 31 would illustrate the dangers of unofficial car meets.

He said: “I hope this discourages people from taking part in these events.”

The M.E.N. contacted a number of individuals who were at the meet that night. Most did not want to talk about what happened.

However, one told us: “What I saw was horrendous and I tried to put it to the back of my mind, so would rather not get into depth with it all. I would never attend an unofficial or organised event again.”

But many others involved in that scene are not put off by stories like these, because the danger, the clandestine nature of the scene, the cat and mouse game with police, is part of the appeal.

Unofficial car meets have continued to take place up and down the country, and in Greater Manchester, 2018’s heatwave summer has been no exception.

The sad reality is that the PSPO obtained by Trafford did not prevent drivers from meeting there, and did not prevent Sophie Smith’s death.

But that doesn’t mean the authorities are powerless. In 2015, the councils of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall were granted a ground-breaking High Court injunction banning car cruising from the area entirely.

Wolverhampton council said since the order came into force seventeen people have been found in breach of the injunction by participating in or organising a car cruise. They have received suspended prison sentences, fined up to £1,000 and ordered to pay costs.

The injunction was extended in January until 2021.