Killed toddler's parents "sickened" that road safety plans were discarded

Monday 09 October 2017

Devastated parents of a toddler who was run over in a car accident while on holiday in Jersey have said they are “sickened” that plans to restrict access to the area where their son was killed were never implemented.

Three-year-old Clinton Pringle lost his life last summer, when a van hit him as he crossed the road to Millennium Park last summer. His death sparked a six-day trial, which saw driver Rebekah Le Gal (39) found guilty of causing death by careless driving.

But accessing that area - an ‘s’ bend where Tunnell Street meets Robin Place - may never have been possible if road safety plans for the £10million Millennium Park, which were discussed and considered more than five years before Clinton’s death, had been carried out.

A traffic management plan published before the park was opened suggested using rising bollards to stem the flow of vehicles in the area. That idea was later assessed in a safety audit by international consultancy firm Parsons Brinckerhoff. But for reasons that remain unclear, bollards were never put in place.

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

Clinton’s father Michael Pringle told Express that the family were deeply upset by this news.

“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.”

Deputy Geoff Southern is demanding answers from the States this week about who made the decision not to implement the plans, and why. Despite having “little faith” in the island’s political and judicial system, Mr Pringle praised Deputy Southern’s attempts to find out “what went wrong” and says he awaits the answers from St Helier and the Department for Infrastructure, who both worked on the park, “with baited breath.”

Pictured: Clinton's father, Michael Pringle.

“There’s seems to be a lot of buck-passing… Roads and Infrastructure seem to work autonomously at times from the Parish of St Helier, passing it around like a hot potato between them. It’s all about accountability - no one wants to be held accountable for what went wrong. That’s all very good when things are going swimmingly, but not [in this case].”

The news comes as a further blow to the family, who were recently shaken after learning that a driver in Scotland was jailed for six years after texting on his mobile moments before crashing into a two-year-old, while Le Gal was handed a two-year suspended sentence in similar circumstances.

That sentence has made them yet more determined to continue raising awareness and campaigning for change. Part of those efforts have already included a visit to Downing Street, where Mr Pringle criticised ‘shared space’ road layouts - present around Millennium Park - which do not distinguish between road and pavement.

“People keep saying nothing will bring Clinton back. We’re very aware of that fact. It’s not something we want to do, it’s just nonsense. We’ve pushed the issue as a family because we know that things weren’t right,” he added.

Amid the trauma, however, there has been some good news: the birth of Leyton Francisco Pringle, Clinton’s brother.

Pictured: Newborn Leyton Francisco Pringle, who is now seven weeks old, has the middle name 'Francisco' to honour the efforts of an islander who tried to save his older brother, Clinton.

He’s now seven weeks old and thriving, resembling his older brother both in his blonde hair and blue eyes and personality.

"He's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Clinton was a great baby, he slept well and ate well and didn’t really cry. People always say you don’t get two of the same, so we were expecting a very different affair this time, but he’s been great," Mr Pringle explained.

"He’s changing every day. I think he’s 11lbs now... so he’ll be quite tall like his brother. People think that Clinton was a toddler, but he was 3ft2 - he wasn’t a small tiny wee boy. I’m 5ft10 and he was up to my waist. I think his brother's going to be the same - bigger than me, that’s for sure."

Leyton also carries a special tribute in his middle name, which honours the life-saving efforts of islander Francisco Gouveia who desperately struggled to free little Clinton from underneath Le Gal’s van. Upon being sent a picture of newborn Leyton and his birth certificate featuring the name, Mr Gouveia was apparently “over the moon.”

“Francisco pulled [Clinton] out and had his blood all over his hands so it must have been a traumatic experience for him that he’ll have for the rest of his life, so we hope that with this small gesture, he’ll remember that rather than the actual experience that day.

“Then when Leyton’s older, he’ll know exactly why his middle name’s Francisco and all about his big brother.”