MOTHER DENIES MANSLAUGHTER AFTER BABY THROWN FROM CAR WINDOW
A BABY boy died after being thrown from a car window because he was not strapped in properly, a court was told.Mum Morgan Kiely, then 19, had been drinking at Clacton beach in Essex with a friend and her young son Harry on July 13, 2022.However as they drove away, the car rolled and ended up on its roof - and six-month-old Harry was thrown from his seat through an open window.He died later that night from 'unsurvivable' injuries including a skull fracture.Kiely has denied manslaughter as prosecutors said Harry had not been strapped in his car seat properly.Chelmsford Crown Court heard Kiely was the passenger in a Ford Focus belonging to friend Stevie Steel when the accident happened.Harry was in a rear seat behind his mother.Steel, of Crayford, Kent, has previously admitted causing death by careless driving while over the drink drive limit.Alex Stein, prosecuting, said the young women were driving back from Clacton beach at about 6.30pm when the crash happened.They had met up at about 3pm and bought three bottles of Prosecco at Aldi on their way to the beach with Harry.After finishing a bottle of wine, they left the beach together before Steel and Kiely drove away.The court heard Steel was distracted while driving and hit a parked car on Cherry Tree Avenue in Clacton.The Ford Focus rolled and ended up on its roof, and the two girls were left hanging upside down by their seatbelts.Mr Stein said: "Very sadly, that child's seat had not been strapped properly into the seatbelt, and Harry hadn't been strapped into the seat properly.""Harry was thrown out of the open window out of his seat."He suffered a devastating skull fracture.It is a very, very sad case."Mr Stein said Harry landed on the road and had no way to break his fall.Members of the public rushed to help, including a retired paediatric nurse.Harry was treated at the scene for more than an hour before he was taken to hospital, where staff continued to try to save him, but he died at about 9pm.The trial continues.
