Joshua Spence: Mother pays tribute to son who ‘loved to love’ who was hit and killed by neighbour’s car in Catterick

At an inquest held at Northallerton Coroner’s Court on Tuesday (Apr 29), his mother, Kirsty Slater, paid an emotional tribute to her son, describing their bond and the “sunshine” he brought into her life.

“We were a team. We were going to do life together,” she said.

“He never knew this but he saved my life. I had a lot of darkness in my life and the sunshine that he brought with him made every day better.

“Being Joshua’s mummy was the best eight years of my life.”

Ms Slater recalled how Joshua loved football, was a social butterfly, and had an infectious laugh.

He was described as “proud to be the fastest boy in his school” and had dreams of becoming a professional footballer with his friends.

The inquest was told that on the day of the incident, Ms Goodacre was returning home from work around 5.45pm.

As she turned into her usual parking space, she felt something under her wheels, she said in a statement to police.

Ms Goodacre later told officers: “I didn’t even see him. He wasn’t even there — and then he was under the wheels.”

She immediately ran to alert Joshua’s mother, who was just a few doors away.

Despite the efforts of neighbours, police, paramedics and an air ambulance team to resuscitate Joshua, he was pronounced dead at 6.45pm.

Home Office pathologist Dr Peter Cooper said Joshua had sustained a fatal blunt head injury, consistent with having been crushed by a tyre.

He said death would have been very quick and there was no evidence of natural disease.

Police confirmed that Ms Goodacre passed drink, drug and impairment tests at the scene.

In a prepared statement during a later police interview, she said she had not driven carelessly or been distracted.

Ms Goodacre also estimated she was travelling between 10 and 13mph.

A forensic collision investigation found no defects with the car or road.

PC Edge, who led the investigation, said evidence including tyre marks, DNA and body positioning suggested Joshua was hit on the offside front of the vehicle near the A-pillar – an area known to create a blind spot for drivers.

Ms Goodacre did not face criminal charges over the crash.

Due to a lack of witnesses in the moments before the collision, investigators could not determine whether Joshua was walking, running, or where exactly he came from, though it is thought he may have emerged from an alley near his home, the inquest was told.

Coroner Jonathan Leach recorded a narrative verdict after concluding that Joshua died as a result of head injury following a road traffic collision and acknowledged the heartbreak experienced by his family.

“It cannot be ruled out that Joshua was not visible to Ms Goodacre due to the offside A-pillar obstructing her view at the time of the collision,” he said.

The hearing closed with the coroner offering his condolences to Joshua’s family.