Detective wins award after justice fight for toddler hit by danger driver
A MET police officer who fought for justice for a twoyear-old boy left with brain damage when he was hit by a dangerous driver has been awarded the prestigious
Livia Award.
Dc Charlie Pulling was hailed for his “tenacity and d r ive to achieve justice” fo r K a i Khetani after the crash in August 2016. The boy and his grandfather were hit on a pedestrian crossing by driver Ben Etheridge’s Fiesta after it had gone through a red light.
Etheridge claimed he had been dazzled by the setting sun and denied being on his mobile in the moments before the crash. Dc Pulling discovered that the phone had been in use but the data had been deleted.
Although a charge of perverting the course of justice over the deletion was eventually dropped, Etheridge admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Harrow crown court in March this year.
Judge Ian Bourne ruled that Etheridge had changed his story several times and had been on his phone for a 23-second call before the crash.
Etheridge handed a letter of remorse to the judge and was given a two-year suspended sentence, including a three-year driving ban and 240 hours of community service. An attempt to have the sentence reviewed failed on a technicality.
Dc Pulling received the Livia award from Victims’ Commissioner Baroness Newlove in Westminster on Monday.
The award for crash investigators was set up in honour of Livia Galli-Atkinson, who was killed aged 16 by a dangerous driver who mounted the pavement, and who was also spared a jail sentence.