A hit-and-run driver has been issued a suspended sentenced to after pleading guilty to fatally hitting a seven-year-old boy who ran into the road to retrieve his football.
Young William Brown was thrown into the path of a second vehicle after he was struck on the Sandgate Esplanade, near Folkestone, Kent, by the grey Peugeot van driven by Stewart Powell, 49. The driver fled after the incident on December 6 last year, while William died at the scene, an act described by the seven-year-old's grieving mother as "inhumane".
In a devastating statement read in court, William’s mother, Laura Brown, accused Powell of leaving her son in the road “like an animal”. The driver drove a short distance before getting out his van, seeing someone was performing CPR on William, and fleeing the scene after he “panicked”. He phoned 999 the day after hitting William, and told officers: “the whole f****** thing just stressed me out”.
Laura described Powell's behaviour as "inhumane", saying: “Stewart stood watching the catastrophic incident unfold. He made a conscious decision to get back into his van and leave him. That behaviour is simply inhumane. We had to deal with the hammer blow someone hit him and left the scene. The not knowing who killed William tortured my mind. I was begging the van driver to come forward. Stewart’s actions prolonged suffering we were already enduring.”
William Brown Snr spoke directly to the man who hit his son: “It was cowardly not to stop and keep driving, Stewart.” But the grieving father reiterated comments which the parents had made during the trial: “I know William would forgive Stewart… I forgive you Stewart, I give your family peace and restoration.”
Powell, of St Mary’s Bay, was sentenced to 14 weeks' imprisonment suspended for 12 months, along with a curfew. District Judge Claire Loxford said: “Your punishment will go far beyond the sentence I impose on you this morning. By leaving the scene you denied police the opportunity to investigate other offences. Having accepted being a cannabis user at the time, and having used cannabis that day.”
During the heartbreaking court case in May, William’s parents had previously said they “forgive Stewart”, despite the fact that he made some “very poor choices before and after the incident”. Powell went to work the day after striking little William and only phoned the police 24 hours after the collision, after an appeal for information was made by the child’s parents. In his first police interview, Powell admitted he had smoked cannabis the day before the collision.
In May, Powell pleaded guilty at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court to failing to stop at the scene as well as driving his van without third-party insurance. Prosecutor Dylan Bradshaw reportedly told the court after the crash that "the defendant stopped, got out of the van, saw this boy that was effectively dying in the road and got back in the van and drove off”.
Bradshaw added: "Almost 24 hours went past and the police received a call and that turned out to be Mr Powell." William was "propelled" into the path of a Red Citroen, behind the van, being driven by Rebecca Clayton. Powell was issued with an interim driving ban and granted unconditional bail, before his sentencing today.
Adrienne Wright, mitigating, said at the sentencing that it was an out-of-character incident for Powell and it was the “sheer panic” which caused him to act in the wrong way. “Not a moment passes that he does not regret his decision,” she said.
Laura Brown, William’s mum, said they hoped that Powell would receive harsher charges but that they are willing to forgive him nevertheless. "I just feel that it's really inappropriate to be in this court given the severity of the case,” she said outside court in May.
“But this is the law as it stands. I was hoping for more serious charges. And with the aggravating features I think it should have been dealt with at Crown Court. That's why we're hoping for change. We would like an amendment to the law which would allow cases like this to be elevated to the Crown Court,” Laure continued. "As a family, we forgive Stewart. He made some very poor choices before and after the incident."
Appeals were made to King Charles to grant permission for William to be buried at his local church in Folkestone, despite the fact it is no longer being used for burials. The King allowed the burial, with hundreds of people attending William’s funeral in January.