A dad screamed out ‘my boy, my boy, help my boy’ after his four year-old son was dragged under the wheels of a neighbour’s minibus, an inquest heard. Jayden Kearns – who loved Paw Patrol and Spiderman – tragically died after the horror incident in March last year.
He had been playing outside his home on his bike in New Rough Hey, Preston, Lancashire, with other children at the time. They included the son of Chris Cleaver, who was driving. Mr Cleaver, who operates a school run service for children with special needs, returned home from work at around 4.35pm on March 26, 2024.
Jayden’s grandmother, Kathleen Yates, was at her daughter’s home at the time after collecting him from a childminder. The inquest heard Mrs Yates thought Mr Cleaver was driving too fast when he entered the cul-de-sac.
Mr Cleaver pulled his Citroen Relay over and spoke to his children before telling them he would park up and come out and play. The inquest heard he checked his mirrors then set off. Jayden was then hit.
Neighbour Derek Winstanley told how he saw Jayden being dragged under the wheels. Mr Cleaver got out of the minibus and picked him up, the inquest heard, before emergency services were called. “I knew straight away that it was serious,” said Mr Winstanley.
Neighbours ran out of their homes to help, while Mr Cleaver sat at the side of the road crying with his head in his hands, the inquest heard.
Jayden’s father, meanwhile, raced out of his home screaming ‘my boy, my boy, help my boy’. The youngster was given a blood transfusion at the scene and taken to the Royal Preston Hospital by ambulance under police escort. He had suffered serious head and chest injuries and was in cardiac arrest on arrival.
He was pronounced dead later. The cause of death was recorded as chest trauma, reports LancsLive.
Preston Coroner’s Court heard on Friday that Mr Cleaver passed a roadside drug and alcohol test as well as a field impairment test and eyesight assessment. When he was interviewed under caution by police, he maintained that he had checked his surroundings before setting off in the seconds prior to the collision, but that his view was affected by a wheelchair ramp inside the minibus.
Collision investigator PC Rachel Carbery explained that the vehicle had a “significant blind spot” which would have restricted Mr Cleaver’s view of Jayden. She said he wasn’t speeding when he entered the cul-de-sac.
Police launched an investigation to consider whether Mr Cleaver had committed an offence of causing death by careless driving. The investigation later concluded there was no evidence any offences had been committed. Sergeant Matt Davidson said: “We would need to show his standard of driving fell below what would have been expected. From our investigation that was just not found to be the case.”
Area Coroner Kate Bisset returned a conclusion of road traffic collision and said: “There are no circumstances that evidentially indicated that I need to refer this back to the Crown Prosecution Service.
“Jayden Paul Anthony Kearns died on March 26, 2023, at the Royal Preston Hospital as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic collision at New Rough Hey.”