More questions over Clinton's death - but no answers until inquest

Tuesday 07 November 2017

Further questions about why road safety plans that would have restricted access to an area in which a toddler was killed were not implemented are set to resurface in the States - but key players could be gagged from revealing all by an upcoming inquest, Express has learned.

Deputy Geoff Southern is set to probe the Minister for Infrastructure further over the findings of a rejected safety audit conducted by international experts Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2011.

That audit, Express revealed in September, assessed options including automatic rising bollards to limit vehicle access to residents, refuse collection and emergency vehicles only from Tunnell Street to Robin Place where holidaying Clinton Pringle (3) tragically lost his life after being hit by a car last year. Though viewed by Express, it was never published.

Had the plan been implemented, driver Rebekah Le Gal (39), who was found guilty of causing Clinton’s death by careless driving, would not have been able to access the area in which the fatal collision occurred.  

Questioned by Deputy Southern in October, Infrastructure Minister Deputy Eddie Noel firmly planted responsibility for the plans’ implementation, or not, at the St Helier Roads Committee’s door. 

Pictured: 2010 traffic proposals for the road on which Glaswegian tot Clinton was killed.

“My Department does not have jurisdiction over Tunnell St or Robin Place. The Parish of St. Helier Roads Committee is the responsible authority and is the only body that can direct changes to its roads layout or operation, all decisions and implementation work on these roads were undertaken by the Parish,” he said.

Unsatisfied with that answer, however, Deputy Southern is set to grill the Minister further at next week’s States Assembly meeting. He will ask whether TTS – as the Infrastructure Department was then known – removed plans for the bollards due to their cost.

He believes that the Minister’s response was “an attempt to pass the buck from his department to the Parish” and that the decision came down to TTS. “What was the cost of these bollards? And will this minor saving for the department, which has contributed to the tragic death of a child, continue to endanger the public? When will the Infrastructure minister admit his department's role?" he asked.

Pictured: Deputy Geoff Southern wants to know whether costs played a part in the bollards getting rejected. He's set to probe the Minister for Infrastructure on this in the next States Sitting.

But getting an answer will not be straightforward. An inquest is due to take place into Clinton Pringle’s tragic death towards the end of the month, Express has learned. 

Until it takes place, both the Minister and St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft, who is the President of the Roads Committee, may be prevented from discussing the facts of the case while it is effectively ‘sub judice’.

The circumstances may also prevent the release of the full Parsons Brinckerhoff into the public domain for some time. As recently as 13 October, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to publish the full safety audit made by Express was declined on the basis that “its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the administration of justice."

Pictured: Minister for Infrastructure Eddie Noel and Constable Simon Crowcroft, who is President of the St Helier Roads Committee, may not be able to speak out over the Parsons Brinckerhoff report until the Inquest has concluded.

Clinton’s father Michael Pringle told Express last week that he was making arrangements to attend the inquest. Reacting previously to the findings of the Parsons Brinckerhoff report, he said: 

“It’s sickening to know that had these measures had been put in place initially, I wouldn’t have been without a son… I find it astounding that these recommendations were made then weren’t implemented. I know it probably comes down to money at the end of the day, but there were three options and each of them had restrictions of some sort. Why did they not take the cheapest of the three options? 

“If [the plans had been put in place], drivers would be well aware of what’s in that space and then have to stop and pay attention to what’s going on in that space first, then that obviously limits the chances of something going wrong.”