Louis Thorold’s parents say ‘no child should die on Britain’s roads’ and call for more testing of older drivers
Chris and Rachael Thorold have vowed to campaign to ensure no one has to deal with the death of a child on Britain’s roads in memory of their son Louis - and called for more testing of drivers as they age.
Shelagh Robertson, 74, was found not guilty by reason of insanity of causing death by careless driving of five-month-old Louis Thorold in Waterbeach by a jury at Cambridge Crown Court today (Friday, August 12), which heard she had undiagnosed dementia at the time of the crash.
Mrs Robertson was driving home from a shopping trip to Tesco when she turned into the path of an oncoming van on the A10 on January 22 last year, the court heard.
The van collided with Mrs Robertson’s car, forcing the van onto the pavement where it hit Rachael and Louis, killing him and throwing Rachael into the air, causing serious injuries
Louis’ family set up the Louis Thorold Foundation in their son’s memory, with the aim of preventing infant pedestrian deaths.
In a statement released after the verdict, Chris and Rachael said: “Louis Steven James Thorold was the sweetest, happiest, joyful and most beautiful baby. He was perfectly ours. He was our lives. He still is.
“Louis’ future and all his potential stolen. A life sentence for us, his family, our community and everyone who hears this story.
“We must now look forward. Louis wouldn’t want us to be sad or give up. Louis will live on. His legacy, that one day no one will have to deal with a death of a child on Britain’s roads. The Louis Thorold Foundation has already achieved so much, but this is just the start.
“Our message is simple. No child should die on Britain’s roads. The technology, systems and approaches exist to eliminate all road deaths, but require leadership and courage from those we elect to make a difference.
“The issue of ensuring drivers are safe to drive is well understood, but the UK has fallen behind most of Europe. Regular vision, hearing and perception tests are commonplace in most countries as we get older, but not the UK. In the UK drivers can simply self-declare and continue to drive until they choose to stop. With dementia and complex conditions affecting more of us as we live longer this simply isn’t good enough to ensure our loved ones are safe.
“What we need is for these decisions to be made by independent professionals who can assess whether we are all safe to drive. The laws and legal frameworks already exist to make this happen.
“Please, if you are in any doubt of your ability, don’t get in the car. If you have any doubts about your parents, relatives or loved ones’ ability to drive then please talk to them.
“The consequences are serious, real and they last forever. Having a simple conversation can literally save someone’s life. Thank you to all who have supported us so far, I know our little Louis would be proud of us all.”
During the trial, James Leonard, defending, said it was “obvious” Mrs Robertson’s driving “fell below the standard of a reasonable and competent driver”.
But he said that Mrs Robertson was “ill-equipped to negotiate” the junction due to her dementia, and she was unaware of this as she was undiagnosed at the time.
Prosecutor David Matthew said in his closing speech: “There’s no doubt here that Shelagh Robertson is suffering from a form of dementia and was suffering from it in January 2021.”
But he raised the question of “where on the slope of dementia Shelagh Robertson was in January 2021”.
“It’s not just a question of whether someone has dementia, it’s a question of how bad is it,” he said.
Judge Mark Bishop told jurors that to return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity they must be satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, Mrs Robertson had dementia at the time and either did not know what she was doing or did not know that what she was doing was wrong.
He said that this “doesn’t include a momentary failure to concentrate”.
To find out more about the foundation, visit louisthorold.com.
Additional reporting by PA.
