Driver ‘failed to concentrate’ over boy’s death
MOTORIST, 33, DENIES CAUSING DEATH BY CARELESS DRIVING
A WOMAN ran over and killed a six-year-old boy out riding his bike after she ‘failed to concentrate’ on the road, prosecutors allege.
Jenefer Ebosele, 33, denies causing the death of Kidus Wondwosen by careless driving and is standing trial.
He suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries and was pronounced dead within about an hour of the collision in Hulme.
Jurors heard that Kidus was riding his bicycle on a Sunday evening near his home in Hulme, before being hit by Ms Ebosele’s Vauxhall Meriva.
She had turned right from Stretford Road onto Wilmott Road, before turning right again onto Chevril Close, Manchester Crown Court heard. Kidus was riding his bike at the end of Chevril Close near to the junction of Wilmott Road.
CCTV footage showed Ms Ebosele crash into the boy. The collision caused Kidus to suffer ‘catastrophic’ injuries and ‘crushed’ his bicycle.
Ms Ebosele stopped at the scene and Kidus’s mother also quickly arrived. A nurse who lives nearby heard the impact and ran to help.
He saw Kidus lying on the floor unconscious, with Ms Ebosele and his mother both ‘hysterical,’ prosecutor Brian Berlyne said.
The boy was rushed to hospital but he was declared dead at about 6.40pm on Sunday, August 9, 2020. Ms Ebosele, who passed a roadside eyesight test, was arrested.
She made a prepared statement and denied that her driving had fallen below the standards of a competent and careful driver. Ms Ebosele said she had looked into Chevril Close ‘as well as she could,’ but that her view had been ‘partially obstructed’ by a perimeter fence and a windscreen pillar in her car. When she turned right the road appeared to be clear, but the child then ‘appeared’ from her left, she told police. Ms Ebosele said she tried to swerve to her right to avoid a collision but she was unable to.
It was found that Ms Ebosele, of Keston Avenue, Blackley, had been driving under the 20mph speed limit at the time. But a prosecution collision reconstruction expert alleges that the collision could ‘easily have been avoided’ if Ms Ebosele had reacted quicker. Mr Berlyne alleged that Ms Ebosele had ‘failed to concentrate on the road’ and ‘allowed her attention to lapse.’ Jurors were told that as Ms Ebosele accepts being the driver and that the collision caused Kidus’ death, the issue they will have to decide is whether she was driving without due care and attention.
■ Proceeding
The child suffered catastrophic injuries and was pronounced dead within an hour of the collision