By Ashley Young
A restraining order against the parents of a girl who died in road tragedy has been granted at a court today.
The parents of a 15-year-old girl killed after being hit by a car were today given a restraining order at Bradford Magistrates’ Court to stop them ‘harassing’ the motorist involved in her death.
Colin Dawson, 47, and wife Angela, 50, had been due in court to face two counts of harassing Richard Brooke, 53, and his wife Claire Lomas Brooke.
The couple had publicly campaigned for quantity surveyor Mr Brooke to be prosecuted over their daughter’s death, Katelyn’s in January 2018. Crown Prosecution Service officials did not consider a prosecution after hearing that the business consultant had fainted at the wheel and suffered from ‘insane automatism.’
The teenager died after being struck by his BMW while she stood at a bus stop in Wakefield Road, Huddersfield. Grieving Mr and Mrs Dawson were subsequently accused of handing out a petition outside Mr Brooke’s workplace.
The couple also drove slowly past Mr Brooke’s house and the shop owned by his wife, which prosecutors said amounted to “harassment”.Mr and Mrs Dawson of Huddersfield, appeared in court in Bradford today where harassment charges against them were withdrawn.
Richard Davies, prosecuting, said: “This is a particularly sensitive case.
“Almost everybody in it is a victim.
“It is not about what has happened, it is about ensuring that it stops in terms of the behaviour of Mr and Mrs Dawson.
“The Crown have suggested a restraining order without Mr and Mrs Dawson being convicted, which has three conditions.”
The heartbroken couple cannot contact Richard Brooke or his wife, Claire Lomas Brooke, or enter an exclusion zone around their house and work for two years.
They also cannot use social media to contact or share information about Mr and Mrs Brooke.
Mr Davies added: “This is not an order sought by view of punishment, but for the protection of Mr and Mrs Brooke.”
District Judge Richard Clews told Mr and Mrs Dawson that anybody who knew the circumstances surrounding their actions would find them “understandable to some extent”.
CONFIDENT
He said: “I am confident that everything you did or have done is likely to be a way of expressing or trying to express your grief and a sense of injustice rather than any attempt to deliberately break the law.
“I am acutely aware the resolution of these proceedings is not going to bring to an end your grief, nothing will. I only hope that the passage of time will help.”
In a statement issued after the court hearing, Mr and Mrs Dawson said: “We are pleased that common sense has prevailed and the harassment charges against us have been dropped.
“We can now focus on the most important matter which is the inquest into Katelyn’s death.
“We still have many unanswered questions and hopefully these can be resolved by the coroner.”