Pringle family: Town planners have “blood on their hands” after their son's death

Tuesday 20 June 2017

The family of a toddler killed in a car accident by a woman who had been texting at the wheel just seconds earlier, have strongly criticised the road layout where the accident happened.

Father of three-year-old Clinton, who died in June last year, Michael Pringle, also called for drivers to stop using their phones in cars, saying that he had noticed an increasing number of drivers using devices while driving, since taking “...more than a passing interest,” in Jersey following his son’s tragic accident.

“I’ve witnessed drivers texting, taking selfies and posting on social media sites while behind the wheel. They need to realise that the consequences of their actions can be much worse than a few penalty points,” Mr Pringle commented just moments after jurats cleared Rebekah Le Gal (39) of having caused his son’s death by ‘dangerous driving’ in the Royal Court.

Clinton had been holidaying in Jersey at the time of the accident, which occurred just outside Millennium Town Park on a road shared by both pedestrians and vehicles accessing nearby properties.

The layout of the road was criticised extensively throughout the week-long trial, with Mr Pringle today claiming that the town planners and designers responsible for the design’s implementation had “blood on their hands.”

Pictured: The road layout where Clinton Pringle (3) lost his life was strongly criticised during the trial.

He added that his family wouldn't be able to forgive the driver who ran over their son. “God may find it easier to forgive her than we do,” Mr Pringle said.

“Le Gal will be able to return to normal family life and be able to put this... she’ll be able to pick up the pieces and move on. We won’t. We will be forever stuck back in time in June 2016.

“Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting Clinton will remember what a wonderful child he was, and nothing can ever compensate for his loss at such a young age.”

Pictured: A tribute from Clinton's parents left at the scene of the accident last year.

Thanking the States of Jersey Police, staff of Soleil Levant, and the family’s friends and supporters back in the family’s Glasgow hometown, who he said would also be “shocked” by the verdict, he concluded:

“The strength they have given us to get through the darkest of days cannae be underestimated.”

Rebekah Le Gal has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of careless driving, and will be sentenced next month.