Mum killed e-scooter rider while trying to calm child

A mother who killed an e-scooter rider while trying to calm her crying child was spared jail.

Charnele Dey, 33, collided with Jose Dionisio, 53, knocking him off his scooter on Ferndale Road, Brixton, southwest London, on 3 September last year.

She was collecting one of her children from a dance class when another youngster tried to climb out of their car seat, the Old Bailey heard.

Dey pulled up to the curb stopping on double yellow lines and was trying to do a U-turn when she hit Mr Dionisio, originally from Madeira.

She was driving a Honda CRV with her three-year-old in the front and children aged two and 11 weeks in the back.

It took half an hour for an ambulance to attend and Mr Dionisio was left waiting for a bed in hospital for another half an hour before he went into cardiac arrest, the court heard.

Dey admitted causing death by careless driving.

Judge Anthony Bate sentenced her to a community order with 120 hours of unpaid work.

She will be disqualified from driving for one year.

Prosecutor Oli Wellings said: ’This fatal road traffic accident occurred shortly before 6pm.

‘Mr Dionisio was riding his e-scooter on the one-way section. He was approaching from the rear and as he went past Ms Dey she conducted a left hand turn from the stationary position.

‘His scooter struck the left side wheel arch and he was thrown to the floor.

‘The victim was lying on the floor and was attended to by members of the public.

‘He was initially conscious and the defendant remained at the scene.

‘She told police she had positioned herself on the double yellows, looked in her front left mirror, signalled and put her foot on her gas.

‘She said as soon as she did she collided with a gentleman. She said it happened so fast she didn’t know anyone was there.

‘She had wanted to find a safe spot to put her child back in the car seat and settle the other child.

Members of the public heard Dey saying ‘sorry I didn’t know he was there’ and ‘my baby was crying I was trying to feed him’.

An ambulance did not arrive for half an hour, the court heard.

Mr Dionisio was then taken to Kings College Hospital but had to wait another half an hour for a bed.

After half an hour he went into cardiac arrest.

Attempts to resuscitate him were successful but he died of a second cardiac arrest at 8pm.

In a victim impact statement Mr Dionisio’s daughter Cristina Dionisio said she had not known her father much as a child but had connected with him as an adult.

She said the death did not hit her right away but she then suffered from depression and stayed in bed for weeks.

‘I miss my dad every day and think of him often,’ she said.

James Partridge, defending Dey, said there had been a ‘significant delay’ of assistance to Mr Dionisio and a ‘breakdown of communication’ leading to a bed not being ready at the hospital.

‘But there is no escaping the only reason he ended up in this situation is form the actions of Ms Dey on the road,’ he added.

He said friends had described her as a ‘kind person now wrapped with guilt.’

Dey, of Dalyell Road, Lambeth, admitted causing death by careless driving.
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