Grandfather runs over his own toddler grandson, inquest hears

Toddler Jack Smith fell under the rear wheel of Charlie Gaskin’s Ford Transit van as he reversed out of a parking space to pop to the shops.

Two other children were in the van at the time, but Mr Gaskin failed to see Jack who was toddling behind the vehicle.

He suffered a serious head trauma and died at Milton Keynes University Hospital on December 26, 2015.

Speaking at the inquest, attended by the tearful family, PC Adrian White from Thames Valley Police’s collision investigation unit said he believed the accident was ‘unavoidable’.

He said: “Children had been playing out all day on the site and a children’s play area.

“Many of the children wanted to go with him but he could only take two.

“The collision was unavoidable even if [Mr Gaskin] had seen [Jack] as his concentration was on manoeuvring the vehicle and the children elsewhere.

“There was no evidence Mr Gaskin had tried to clean the vehicle.

“There were scratches underneath but these looked like they were from children using it like a chalk board.”

Senior coroner for Milton Keynes, Tom Osborne concluded that Jack died as a result of an accident.

He said: “I am a granddad myself to a two-year-old grandson and cannot even begin to understand what trauma this has caused to the family. Every Boxing Day here after will never be the same.”

The accident happened at Calverton caravan site, which is a permanent site for the travelling community.