Six-year-old Bradford girl ‘was run down and killed in front of her mother and brother’

Schoolgirl Lily Davis was thrown into the air and suffered severe brain injuries when she was hit by a woman driving a Land Rover - who claimed she did not see her in time.

Joanne Rothery, 33, is on trial after denying a charge of death by careless driving.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Lily’s mother Jenna Hatfield, 31, from Bradford, was crossing a busy road with her two children at around 8.30am when the tragedy happened.

Prosecution Ian Howard told how Rothery was charged with careless driving because she took no precautionary measures to avoid the collision even after seeing the mum and son walk into the road, and alleges that she was driving at 35mph in a 30mph zone.

Mr Howard said: “Being aware of pedestrians in the carriageway, she should have taken action to prepare herself for the probability of an unexpected event.

“To carry on in the way she did was careless.”

He gave some scientific evidence saying that had Rothery have seen Lily and been driving at 30mph then she might have had chance to stop in time.

Mr Howard said: “Scientific evidence, allowing for reaction time of one second, had Mrs Rothery been driving at 30mph the she would not have come into contact with Lily Davis.

“Sadly, what we know is Lily was struck, and as a result of being thrown into the air and coming into contact with the hard surface she suffered injuries to her brain, from which she didn’t recover.”

Witness, care worker Henry Grainger told how he saw the three walk towards the middle of Beacon Road in Bradford on Thursday June 12 last year.

He saw that the mum had noticed a car coming and had stepped back with the little boy but the young girl had ran on - into the path of the car.

The case continues.