Pringle trial: Summary of facts

Thursday 27 July 2017

A 39-year-old woman who accidentally killed three-year-old Clinton Pringle after running him over in her van is due to be sentenced this afternoon for causing the toddler's death by "careless driving."

Rebekah Le Gal was previously acquitted by the Royal Court of 'causing death by dangerous driving' earlier this year - the case hinged on when she had pressed 'send' on a text message before hitting the toddler in Tunnell Street last June.

During the trial, the Prosecution, led by Crown Advocate Mark Temple, argued Mrs Le Gal had sent a text to her son shortly before hitting Clinton, but Mrs Le Gal said she replied to her son's text long before the accident. She was eventually acquitted by Jurats Mike Liston and Jane Ronge.

While she pleaded not guilty to the 'dangerous driving' charge, Mrs Le Gal pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of 'careless driving.' She explained why during the trial saying: "I fully accept that I should have seen him although I can't explain why I didn't see him. I believed there was nothing ahead as I followed the bend. All I can think is that if I had looked to my side window I would have seen him and I fully take responsibility for it."

Pictured: The scene of the accident at Tunnell Street with flowers and tributes left in honour of Clinton on the right.

This morning, Crown Advocate Mark Temple summarised the facts ahead of the sentencing. Mrs Le Gal hit Clinton Pringle on 27 June as he was crossing Tunnell Street, after exiting the passageway from Belmont Road, to go to Millennium Park. He had been on holiday from Scotland with his mum Stacey Pringle to visit family on the island. He was airlifted to Southampton Hospital shortly after the accident but died on 30 June "as a direct result of injuries sustained when he was hit by the defendant’s vehicle" said the Crown Advocate.

In her first police interview, Mrs Le Gal said she hadn't seen anyone, including Clinton's mum and aunt, on either side of the road. Police officers calculated that Clinton was 59 meters away from the vehicle when he ran across Britannia Place before crossing Tunnell Street and that he would have been in Mrs Le Gal's view for at least three seconds.

Mrs Le Gal was driving in a "No Entry - Except for access" section of Tunnell Street although she wasn't accessing any premises. She explained she had meant to go to a paint shop at the top of Tunnell Street to exchange a spray can but only realised she didn't have it with her as she entered the street. She continued on past the sign to her destination, the Freedom Centre at the Old Odeon. 

Pictured: Police officers say that Clinton Pringle and his cousin would have been in Mrs Le Gal's view for at least three seconds as she was driving down Tunnell Street.

The Crown Advocate also quoted a report on the accident from DC Robert Manners, a forensic collision investigator, which stated: "I would expect a careful and competent driver who chose not to abide by a 'No entry - Except for access' sign to proceed with caution and heightened awareness. The fact that she failed to see the pedestrians cross, the pedestrian on the side of the road and the pedestrians standing on the other side shows a significantly greater lack of attention than a momentary lapse of concentration."