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Search forCrash victim's mother appeals to prosecutors
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 16:16
Levi Kennett was killed when the car he was travelling in collided with a milk tanker in Castle Cary at about 6.20pm on 29 January this year.
The 19-year-old was a back seat passenger in the car and his sister Kay James was in the front. Her boyfriend Christopher Whitburn was driving.
But Sandra Kennett told an inquest in Yeovil on Tuesday that criminal proceedings against the driver by the CPS was 'against the family's wishes and did not have their support'. Despite this, Mr Whitburn is due to appear in court in Yeovil on Monday in relation to the incident.
The trio were delivering the 60kg generator to one of Levi's friends in Bruton in order to pay for the funeral and were 'chatting and laughing' and talking about Levi's 'troubled past' as they approached the junction of North Street and the A371.
Crash investigators said Mr Whitburn had more than 13 seconds to see the stop sign but said in a police interview he missed it completely and did not realise the junction existed.
The red Ford fiesta carried straight on and into the side of a milk tanker lorry travelling along the A371. Its driver Gareth Parker, of North Cadbury, said he felt an 'almighty bang' and the lorry shook but he did not see the car emerge.
He said: "It is a blind crossroads and you cannot see anything until you are at the top of the junction.
"The lorry shook and I pulled up immediately. The driver said he did not know that there was a junction there. There was nothing I could have done to avoid it."
Mr Whitburn refused to answer any questions in accordance with his legal rights against self incrimination but Miss James, said: "It was very dark and we were trying to look for signs.
"I just remember some lights coming from the right of us and then we drove into the side of the lorry. It happened so quickly. Just before we got to the junction we realised we were on one. I remember Chris getting out of the car and he came around the side to help me. I moved the seat forward to help my brother out. No part of the rear of the car came into collision with the lorry. Levi said he was in a bit of pain and I got him to the side of the road. He gave no explanation of how he was hurt but during the trip in the ambulance he was just saying his chest was hurting."
The generator had filled up the whole of the boot and required a bungy cord to hold it in and there was also a large speaker in the back seat.
Accident investigators said there was no sign of any defect on the car and it is believed the 60 kilo generator had pushed the back seat forward, bending and damaging the back seat locking mechanisms.
PC Peter Davey said it appeared that the group had been chatting and laughing and not seen the sign and there was no evidence of emergency braking. He said: "If he had been paying attention there was more than sufficient time for the vehicle to stop prior to the junction. He would have had 13.79 seconds to react, yet he did nothing.
"It is possible some part of the load struck Mr Kennett, which caused his fatal injuries. There was nothing Mr Parker could have done to avoid it."
Levi was taken to Yeovil District Hospital where he died the following day. A subsequent post mortem had revealed it was not the physical impact of the collision that caused the fatal injuries but the load carried within the car.
The youngster had attracted national media attention for being one of four youths arrested on suspicion of the murder of Yeovil man Alan Toogood in 2006. No charges were ever brought by the CPS.
East Somerset coroner Tony Williams said: "We cannot be sure if it were the generator or the speaker that caused the injuries but there is every indication that part of the load of the Fiesta was responsible."
Mr Williams said he had considered a narrative verdict but in light of Mrs Kennett's plea to the CPS he recorded a verdict of accidental death.
After the inquest Mrs Kennett said: "Levi was a loving son and brother."
She also said she was very happy with the way everything had been dealt with.
A spokesman for the CPS said after the case: "We would not necessarily drop the case simply because a member of the deceased family has asked us to because it may be in the public interest to bring charges. It is something that the court may take into account but we look at whether there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest."
"Knife crime is a scourge which claims too many lives and ruins countless others." James Brokenshire, shadow home affairs minister
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