By James Simons-
A 12-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a “warm, loving and dedicated” social worker who was run over by her own car in Sheffield.
Marcia Grant, 60, (pictured0was killed when she was hit by the vehicle outside her home in the Greenhill area of the city at about 7.10pm on Wednesday.
The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found by police a short time later and arrested on suspicion of murder and possession of aknife
On Friday, South Yorkshire police announced that the boy had been charged with murder. He will appear before Sheffield youth court on Saturday.
Grant, who was described as a “beautiful soul” in tributes left at the scene, was a social worker and foster carer. She is thought to have shared her semi-detached family home with her husband and two boys.A 12-year-old boy was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and on suspicion of possessing a knife.
In a statement released through police, her family said they were struggling to come to terms with their “enormous loss”.
They said: “Marcia was a warm, loving and dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend and a pillar of her community. Her loss has already sent shockwaves through all who knew her or was lucky enough to be included in her orbit.
“We ask for privacy at this time while further investigations are under way and the family try to come to terms with this enormous loss.”
Officers could be seen making house-to-house inquiries as people continued to leave floral tributes outside Grant’s family home on Friday.
One card read: “I’m so sorry for your loss. She was a beautiful soul.”
Two police cars were stationed further down the road in the quiet suburb, which sits on the edge of the Peak District about four miles south-west of Sheffield city centre.
Grant is believed to have been trapped under the rear of her silver Honda Accord as it reversed off the gravel driveway at about 7pm on Wednesday.
Officers from South Yorkshire police, the ambulance service and the fire and rescue service rushed to help, but Grant was pronounced dead at the scene, the force said.
DCI Andrea Bowell said: “This will be a deeply distressing time for the families of those involved in this incident, and I would ask their privacy is respected as they seek to understand what has happened.”
The 12-year-old suspect becomes one of the youngest children charged with murder in Britain in the past 30 years. England, Wales and Northern Ireland have one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the western world, meaning children as young as 10 can be prosecuted from offences ranging from arson to theft and murder.
It is extremely rare, however, for charges to be brought against under-13s. Of the 33,021 proven offences by children aged 10 to 17 in the year to last March, only 710 (2%) were committed by those aged 10 to 12.
Serious offending by such young children is rarer still: of the 33,021 total offences, only six by children aged 10 to 14 were classed as being in the gravest category.