Time of texting at heart of fatal toddler accident case

Friday 16 June 2017

The exact time at which a 39-year-old woman, accused of causing the death of three-year-old Clinton Pringle, sent a text to her son is at the heart of a Royal Court trial with the defence and prosecution putting forward alternative versions of exactly when it happened.

Rebekah Le Gal is pleading not guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, after she hit Clinton with her black VW Transporter on Tunnell Street on 27 June last year.

She admitted in her second interview with the Police in September 2016 that she had been using her phone while driving down Tunnel Street, from the St Saviour's road end. She said that she had pre-typed a message to her son while in her home driveway and that she had simply pressed "send" while behind the wheel. She explained that this action took place as she was approaching the speed bump which sits 89 metres from where the collision happened.

The prosecution, led by HM Solicitor General Mark Temple, says that she actually texted further down the road, just as she was entering the right-hand bend by Brittania Place. Mrs Le Gal received a text at 15:50:24 and replied to her son at 15:50:36. The first 999 call was made only one minute and 13 seconds after that which, in the prosecution's opinion, shows that the text was sent very shortly before Mrs Le Gal hit Clinton.

But the defendant's Advocate, Matthew Jowitt, used CCTV footage from Britannia Place to determine where Mrs Le Gal was on the road when she pressed 'send'. Using the calculations made by Senior Investigating Officer Sian Gidley, he said she sent the text at least 17 seconds before Clinton crossed the road.

DC Robert Manners, a forensic investigation officer, told the Court on Wednesday that he had been unable to identify any source of distraction that could explain why Mrs Le Gal didn't see Clinton cross the road. He added that the use of the mobile phone wasn't the "sole cause" of the accident.

The prosecution also alleges that Mrs Le Gal hid her mobile phone in a jumper between the two front seats of the vehicle after the collision. The Solicitor General said: "She failed to mention the use of her mobile phone during the interview on the evening after the accident despite many opportunities. It is only three days after that the phone was discovered by chance when DVS inspected the vehicle. She then concocted a story seeking to minimise the mobile use."

On the day of the accident, Mrs Le Gal was driving down a "no entry - access to premises only" part of Tunnel Street. She explained in her interviews that she was initially meant to drop a varnish spray at a paint shop located at the top of the road. She only realised that she had left it at home when she turned onto Tunnel Street, but decided to carry on anyway. The prosecution said that this "disregard" of a traffic signal was one of "three criminal failures."

The prosecution closed its case on Thursday afternoon. Mrs Le Gal should be the first witness to be called in her own defence, along with three experts.