“All of this comes too late for Clinton”

Friday 01 December 2017

Devastated parents of a toddler killed after crossing the road to the town park have said that attempts by the Parish of St Helier to make the area safer will not soothe their heartbreak.

Michael and Stacey Pringle this week flew to the island from their Glasgow home for the conclusion to an inquest into the death of their son, three-year-old Clinton. He was struck by a van as he crossed a controversial ‘shared space’ road Tunnell Street while holidaying in Jersey in July last year.

That inquest – tragically held opposite a toyshop where Clinton’s parents had hoped to take him – took place yesterday. It was attended by Constable of St Helier Simon Crowcroft. In his opening remarks, Coroner Advocate Mark Harris explained that its purpose was to better understand how the youngster died and what can be done to prevent similar future tragedies.

In what was the first instance of a St Helier official speaking out since Clinton’s accident, Parish Director of Transport and Electrical Services Silvio Alves unveiled a raft of pedestrian safety proposals for the area.

The plans include installing a zebra crossing, increased signage, tactile paving, speed bumps and cutting back some of Millennium Park’s hedges to increase visibility. Many of the suggestions will be subject to planning permission, however. They came following a report by WSP published in September 2017. Although WSP merged with Parsons Brinckerhoff, the report rejected proposals for automatic rising bollards from its predecessor, arguing that they could be impractical and expensive. Mr Pringle said that he felt somewhat let down that these had not been taken forward – nor had plans for a normal pavement.

Pictured: Clinton Pringle, who was tragically killed after an accident on Tunnell Street last year.

Although welcoming moves to make Tunnell Street and the adjoining Robin Place and La Raccourche areas safer, the Pringle family said that they were “troubled” that it had taken over a year for measures to be put forward following Clinton’s accident.

The couple were also critical of the inquest’s scope, which was intended to be “forward-looking.”

It therefore didn’t address how the road layout, which was criticised extensively during the trial of the driver who hit Clinton, Rebekah Le Gal, was decided upon. It also failed to address why, in Mr Pringle’s view, appearance took precedence over safety.

“I’m not convinced that shared spaces are the way to go – they look nice, aesthetically they’re very pleasing, but I just feel that when you put vehicular traffic and pedestrians together there’s something going wrong,” he told Express following the inquest.

Nonetheless, he maintained that, “the road didn’t kill Clinton, the driver killed Clinton.” 

“These spaces depend on all drivers acting in the same manner, in a responsible manner when they approach. It only takes one driver not to be paying attention or doing something they’re not supposed to be doing and you get a fatality,” he said.

Pictured: Michael Pringle, Clinton's father, was critical of the inquest.

It was for that reason that the Pringle family were “extremely disappointed” that Le Gal was not called to give evidence. She was handed a two-year suspended sentence for careless driving this summer during a trial that revealed she had been texting at the wheel just moments before hitting Clinton. The Pringles therefore felt that questions remained - particularly in light of a spate of recent UK cases, which have resulted in harsher sentences. 

Although the inquest was the final legal hurdle for the family to clear, Mr Pringle said that he would still be keeping a close eye on the island’s courts. 

While the pair had been forced to relive some of the chilling details of Clinton’s accident, they said that memories of their little boy’s final days followed them outside the inquest room.

“It’s no joy for us coming here. We think of Clinton’s last flight here. We think of his flight in the air ambulance going to Southampton. We were thinking of taking him to the toyshop across the road there and buying him on his last day his last Paw Patrol character. There’s so many reminders, it’s infuriating,” Mr Pringle commented.

“As soon as you land, you see the big dinosaur in the airport and you just remember that he never quite got there,” Mrs Pringle added, alluding to a trip to Tamba Park planned for the day after Clinton suffered his accident. 

After a session of nearly six hours, the Coroner concluded that Clinton had died of “multiple injuries”, adding that he hoped it was of “some comfort” that the three-year-old was rendered unconscious upon impact and unlikely to have been aware of the damage done.

He announced his intention to issue a report on the matter to the Parish of St Helier and other highway authorities to prevent further deaths. He added that he was “very sorry” for the Pringle family’s loss.

“Nothing will bring Clinton back, but hopefully these recommendations are taken forward and they do make a difference for someone in the future,” Mr Pringle added.

Clinton's parents will today lay a wreath at the site of the accident in Millennium Park.