I don't blame driver says mum of Bradford toddler killed by tipper truck

Issac Brocklehurst was killed instantly when he emerged from between two parked cars and was hit by a lorry, an inquest heard.

The youngster had been playing in his grandmother Anita Brocklehurst’s garden when he went through a gap in the wall and onto the road.

The inquest heard he was then hit by lorry driver Anthony Ward on February 23 this year as his horrified grandmother watched on and shouted ‘no.’

The coroner concluded that the death of Issac, who was described as “a very bubbly little boy and so full of life,” was accidental.

Bradford Coroner’s Court heard on the morning of his death, Issac’s mother Gemma had dropped him at his grandmother’s flat in order to go to a midday doctor’s appointment.

Ms Brocklehurst later returned to see her son lying on the road, the inquest heard.

In a statement read to the inquest, she said: “I saw a child on the road and I knew it was Issac. I did not have to be told. I just knew. I was hysterical.”

Ms Brocklehurst, who lives in Bradford, said she did not blame the driver or her mother for her son’s death.

She said: “The death of Issac was a tragic accident. It could happen to anyone. I do not know much about what happened, but I do not blame the driver.”

She added: “I have good days and bad days. Most days are bad days, but I just take each day as it comes.”

In a statement, Issac’s grandmother Anita, who died in July this year, said her grandson was very energetic when he was dropped off at the block of flats in nearby Shipley.

She said: “I was just dozing in my chair when Issac came bursting in shouting: ‘wakey wakey Nana.’

She then took her grandson into the garden, which had a low wall with a gap in it, to play with her five-month-old puppy.

She said: “Issac knew he had to stop when he got to the gap in the wall. At one point he rode down, said ‘naughty’ and rode back up.

“I think I looked away from him for a moment as I was putting something in the bin.”

But she said that Issac, whose mum had dressed him in a navy jumper with a fox on it that morning, was near the gap by the time she looked back up.

“I shouted ‘no.’ I did not want to run after him as he might think it was a game and run on.

“I thought he would come back but instead he turned and went straight onto the road.”

She said he looked back at her as she noticed there was a lorry.

Anthony Ward, a delivery driver for R&S Transport, was on his way to a delivery at the time, the inquest heard.

Senior Coroner Martin Fleming asked the driver: “You said in your interview that you did not see the child and if you saw him you would have put your lock on, even if it meant killing yourself.”

He replied: “Definitely. I never saw the child.”

One eye witness, Alan Ward, was travelling behind the lorry and said: “The child on a bike shot out between two cars.”

Paramedic Linsey Drake, who attended the scene, said Issac died instantaneously.

Pathologist Dr Richard Knights said Issac died of multiple injuries.

The inquest also heard that the driver, who appeared to give evidence, was driving within the speed limit and was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.

The coroner described Anita’s “desperate attempts to stop him” and described the accident as “something no grandmother should ever have to witness.”

Mr Fleming said: “He was a very much loved little boy. He was a son, grandson, nephew and cousin. He was a very bubbly little boy and so full of life. Clearly he gave so much love to those who loved him.”

Concluding the “very sad and tragic inquest”, Mr Fleming recorded a verdict of accidental death and added that the driver would not have been able to take evasive action.