Mum warns drivers after son killed by loose plank

The mother of an 11-year-old boy who died after being struck by an object which fell from a van has said she is fighting to cut road deaths because she does not want to become "bitter and twisted".

Harry Dennis died in hospital after being struck by a loose plank as he sat in the front seat of his father's car in Hooe, East Sussex, in December 2022.

The van driver, Russell Le Beau, from Eastbourne, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years at Lewes Crown Court.

Harry's mother, Maria Dennis, is now working with Sussex Police to teach drivers about keeping loads secure.

She has travelled across England attending conferences, presentations and workshops in her campaign to promote load safety.

Maria said that when people hear "health and safety" they roll their eyes, but when when she tells them her 11-year-old son "who was just going about his everyday business, lost his life because somebody didn't do what they should do, people really listen".

She warned drivers it could be their lorry's load that kills someone.

She said: "If you're not carrying something safely, something [could happen] at any time."

Four year's on from Harry's death, she said: "I could have quite easily gone on and hated the world and become bitter and twisted and locked myself away.

"I did not want to do that because all that anger, I needed to put it into something else, and this feels like Harry is making a difference."

That, she said, was what drove her on.

"This isn't my comfort zone," she said.

On Tuesday, Sussex Police, working with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, pulled over open-bed trucks, lorries and tractors with trailers for inspection on the A23, at Handcross in West Sussex.

PC Barry Freeman said: "The two biggest things we have identified in the six-and-a-half years I have been doing this is either a lack of training from the company or laziness on the part of the driver.

"If we talk about Harry's scenario, it's a small three-and-a-half ton Ford Transit... going around a left hand bend. The boards were lying loose on the top, not secured.

"One strap on the top, and Harry would still be here."

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