'Unknowns' surround death of boy hit by Land Rover

Joshua Slater died at Catterick Garrison in September 2023

There are "a lot of unknowns" surrounding the death of an eight-year-old boy who was hit by a car, an inquest has heard.

Joshua Spence, known as Joshua Slater, was killed when he was run over by a Land Rover Discovery Sport at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire on 5 September 2023.

An inquest into his death concluded the youngster, who lived on the British Army base, died in a road traffic collision having suffered a blunt head injury.

Joshua's mum Kirsty told the hearing that being his mother "was the best eight years of my life".

Ms Slater brought a photo of her son to the inquest at North Yorkshire Coroner's Court earlier and held a teddy bear throughout the hearing.

She broke down in tears as she paid tribute to her "beautiful" son, who had dreamt of becoming a professional footballer.

"We were going to do life together.

"He never knew this, but he saved my life. Just the words 'I love you, Mummy' made everything OK."

Ms Slater added: "I will spend the rest of my life missing Joshua.

"My heart will never heal, but I am honoured I was able to be his mummy."

Joshua's mum Kirsty paid tribute to her "beautiful" son at his inquest

Kimberly Goodacre, who had been driving the Land Rover, told the inquest she "did not see" Joshua when she struck him on Somerset Close at about 17:50 BST, as she arrived at her home.

She said she had not realised what had happened until she got out of her car, telling police in a statement: "I felt something under my wheels but hadn't seen anything, so I continued as I was only doing between 10 and 13 miles per hour."

According to a pathologist's report, Joshua would have been rendered "immediately unconscious with death inevitable within a short period of time".

CPR was attempted but the child was pronounced dead at the scene at 18:45.

'A lot of unknowns'

Mrs Goodacre, who passed drink, drug and sight tests after the crash, told the hearing she had not been in a rush or distracted.

Her barrister objected to several questions from Ms Slater's legal team on the basis that they could incriminate her.

A police officer who spoke to her after the crash noted that "it sounded like she had been thinking of lots of different things and she may have been distressed prior to the collision".

She did not face criminal charges over the collision.

A resident on the estate where Joshua lived told the inquest children would regularly play on the streets, with Mrs Goodacre admitting she had seen Joshua and other children out on Somerset Close previously.

However, Mal Edge, a forensic collision investigator, said a visibility study had shown Mrs Goodacre would have had a blind spot when she pulled into Somerset Close.

DNA belonging to Joshua, who had visited a friend's house before the crash, was found on the headlight where the blind spot was located, she added.

Mrs Edge said it was unclear how he came to be in front of the car, or what body position he was in.

"We don't know his movements just before the collision. There's a lot of unknowns that we can't unfortunately answer."

She added that it was "highly unlikely" Mrs Goodacre, who had been attempting to park her car, was driving at 10mph or more based on the evidence gathered.

Recording a verdict of death by road traffic collision, coroner Jonathan Leach said: "It is clear from the statement that [Joshua's] mother read this morning that he had many qualities and brought joy to those who knew him."

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