Young mum guilty of manslaughter as six-month-old baby thrown from car crash
A young mum has been convicted of manslaughter after her six-month-old baby was thrown from a car because he wasn't properly strapped into his seat.
Morgan Kiely, who was 19 at the time, had been drinking at Clacton beach in Essex with a friend and her young son Harry on July 13, 2022. But as the friend drove away, the car rolled over and ended up on its roof - and Harry was ejected from his seat through an open window. He tragically died later that night from "unsurvivable" injuries including a skull fracture.
Morgan Kiely, now 22, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence today at Chelmsford Crown Court. She received a two-year suspended prison sentence after the jury deliberated for about five hours over two days. Kiely opted not to testify at her trial and a key witness stated it was "highly likely" the straps of Harry's seat hadn't been fastened.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Kiely was the passenger in a Ford Focus owned by her friend Stevie Steel when the accident occurred. Harry was seated in a rear seat behind his mother. Steel, from Crayford, Kent, has previously confessed to causing death by careless driving while over the drink drive limit.
Kiely and Steel met up around 3pm and purchased three bottles of Prosecco en route to the beach in Clacton with Harry. They spent several hours on the beach and were briefly joined by Mitchell Bassett, Steel's ex-partner. Mr Bassett had kindly offered to drive them from the beach after learning about their plans to continue their evening's drinking.
Judge Robert Jay stated: "Alarm bells should have been ringing in your head at that point. You knew how much Stevie had drunk. You could and should have taken up Mitchell's offer. A mother should not agree to travel with a drunk driver."
The court was informed that Steel became distracted while driving and collided with a parked car on Cherry Tree Avenue. The Focus, which was adhering to the 30mph speed limit, rolled over and ended up on its roof. The two women were left dangling upside down by their seatbelts, while six-month-old Harry was ejected from the car through an open window.
Judge Jay commented: "This was not an accident that was likely to happen. Maybe 99 times out of 100 the car would not have rolled over at this sort of speed and Harry would have survived."
Harry sustained a catastrophic skull fracture. Members of the public, including a retired paediatric nurse, rushed to assist. Harry received treatment at the scene for over an hour before being hurried to hospital where medical staff continued their efforts to save him. He passed away around 9pm.
During the trial, the jury examined a 999 call from the scene, bodycam footage from an officer, testimony from an expert witness explaining the workings of the child car seat, and evidence provided by Mr Bassett.
Judge Jay addressed Kiely: "Harry's safety was your responsibility. It should have been your primary concern that day." The judge stated that her negligent behaviour on that day was a lapse in her otherwise good care of Harry. "I think that it is obvious to everyone in this courtroom that you were a very good mother to Harry in all respects, and that this was a singleton failure," the judge expressed.
The court was informed that Kiely, 22, from Ryde Avenue, Clacton, had left her job as a carer and now has a four-month-old baby. Benjamin Summers, defending, read out statements to the court describing Kiely as a "devoted and loving mother" to Harry, who was "deeply caring".
The court learned she had taken Harry on trips to Liverpool and Scotland during his short life to visit relatives, and had recently returned to work as a carer. Earlier in the trial, the jury heard from an expert witness about the child car seat and how it is designed to function. The witness suggested it was highly unlikely but not impossible that the straps of the seat had been secured in the car.
Mr Summers stated: "Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful error, it was, but, we say, not making her grossly negligent at the time. We argue it is not as simple as saying the failure to secure a child in a car seat, full stop, is enough."
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