‘SIAN’S DEATH SHOULD BE WARNING TO ALL’
Teen distracted by phone when she walked in front of bus
THE family of a teenager who died after walking out in front of bus while distracted by her mobile phone hope her tragic death will serve as a stark warning to others.
An inquest at Loughborough Coroner’s Court yesterday concluded Sian Ellis, from Whitwick, died as a result of a road traffic collision on January 28, last year.
The 15-year-old suffered fatal injures as she was heading home from King Edward VII College, in Coalville.
The accident happened shortly after 3.30pm, yards from the school gates in Meadow Lane. The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.
Giving evidence, Pc Stuart Bird, a forensic collision investigator, said CCTV footage taken shortly before the tragedy showed a female matching Sian’s description “walking through the school grounds wearing a scarf around her head and looking down at her mobile phone”.
His colleague, Detective Constable John Borlase, of the force’s serious collision investigation unit, said the double-decker Volvo school bus was being driven by Michael John Parker.
He said: “I spoke to all 60 children on the bus and about 20 to 30 others in the area at the time and interviewed the key witnesses.
“They all had a similar account, that Sian was walking towards the road, looking down at her mobile phone.
“One witness said she had headphones in her ear as well.”
The court heard Mr Parker had no valid licence or insurance – he only had a provisional driving licence.
The 62-year-old, of Baker Street, was fined £120 and handed a four-year driving ban at Leicester Magistrates’ Court in September, after pleading guilty to driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence, using a motor vehicle on a road or public place without third party insurance and using a motor vehicle in a manner likely to cause danger to passengers.
Assistant Coroner Louise Pinder explained to family members and friends gathered in court that a GP had ruled him unfit to attend the hearing.
In his absence, Det Con Borlase summarised the driver’s police interview.
Mr Parker had said he had collected pupils from the school campus and had just turned left into Meadow Lane, heading in the direction of the town centre, when the collision happened.
“In his account, he commented that there were a lot of children on the bus, with many standing up,” said the detective.
“He had to ask some of them to go further back as they were too far forward.
“He was driving at about 20mph and had to shout to the children again to get back.
“Then he said he saw a flash in front of him and that’s when the collision occurred.
“He hadn’t seen Sian walk into the road but said he realised when he got off the bus that there was an individual under the vehicle.”
Det Con Borlase said despite some children blocking his view of the bus doors and wing mirrors, Mr Parker’s view in front was not obscured.
Pc Bird told the court driving conditions were “fine and dry” and an examination of the bus found no defects that would have “caused or contributed” to the collision.
He said Sian collided with the front near side of the vehicle about 1m into the road.
Pc Bird calculated the bus would have been travelling at about 19mph, giving Mr Parker 0.63 seconds to react, even if he had seen the teenager.
He said: “With the amount of time between Sian stepping off the pavement and the point of impact, there was nothing Mr Parker could have done to avoid the collision.”
Alex Statham, Sian’s aunt, asked Det Con Borlase why Mr Parker had not been charged with causing death by careless driving, given that he had been driving illegally.
He replied: “The difficulty is that there was no carelessness in his driving that actually caused the collision, which I think was unavoidable.”
Professor Guy Rutty, the pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination, gave the medical cause of death as a “combination of head, chest, abdomen and pelvic injuries”.
Offering her condolences to the family, Miss Pinder reassured them that Sian would not have suffered.
Pc Stuart Bird, forensic collision investigator
There was nothing Mr Parker could have done to avoid the collision