Calne toddler killed by reversing van was ‘playing in the street’

Three-year-old Millie-Ann Rae McKellar, referred to as Millie throughout the inquest proceedings, died in the early afternoon of March 3, 2021, when she was struck by a reversing Hermes van in Campion Close, Calne.

Area coroner Ian Singleton concluded Millie died of multiple injuries, including significant head injuries, as a result of a road traffic collision in the Wiltshire cul-de-sac.

He added that, based on witness accounts and forensic collision investigators’ findings, Millie had been leant against the van in a blind spot not covered by its side mirrors or rear camera and driver Sergiu Tomaiaga had been unable to see her.

Read more: What happens at an inquest and what can the press report?

Millie, and her mother Tanzin Wells, were visiting her grandmother Glynis Smith on the day of the incident, something they did on a regular basis.

In an interview with police, Ms Wells said Millie knew the street well and often played in the road with other children, as there was “very little traffic”.

Millie was playing in the street while her mother, grandmother and uncle, Connor Wood, sat with Ms Smith’s next-door neighbours on the front porch of her property.

Her family told officers she had a good knowledge of road safety, and she would always wait on the path and shout “car” if she saw one coming.

Millie had been playing football with her uncle on the driveway before going to see a cat, who she regularly petted, a couple of houses down the road.

She then moved back and forth between the cul-de-sac and the house and hugged her grandmother before returning to the street, where she played on a scooter.

Ms Wells and Ms Smith recalled seeing Mr Tomaiaga enter Campion Close shortly before midday in his black Mercedes Sprinter van.

Ms Wells recognised Mr Tomaiaga, who waved at her neighbours as he arrived, as he would deliver parcels in the close most days.

Mr Tomaiaga did not recall seeing any children when he entered the cul-de-sac.

He parked with two wheels on the pavement and two wheels on the road, and delivered a parcel, before moving the van down the street to deliver two more parcels.

The court heard he then took one last delivery across the street on foot, before returning to his vehicle by walking around the front to the driver’s door.

He told interviewing officers he checked his rear camera, which was permanently operational when the vehicle’s lights were on, and his side mirrors before reversing off the pavement.

Stephen Hargreaves, a neighbour who witnessed the incident from his kitchen window, said Millie had been stood in the road against the van’s rear doors when it began to move at around 12.03pm.

She lost her balance and fell before the van’s wheels passed over her.

Forensic collision investigator PS John Brunt was satisfied this was the case and that Millie had been in one of the vehicle’s “small but appreciable blind spots”.

He added no defects with the vehicle were found to have contributed.

Mr Tomaiaga said he felt “something” as he reversed, before seeing the scooter in front of him and then, when he had backed up another meter, seeing Millie.

He had been speaking to a colleague over the phone during this time, using a hands-free Bluetooth headset, but PS Brunt did not believe this contributed to the crash as he had not been able to see Millie.

After the collision, Mr Tomaiaga stopped and got out of the van while Millie’s family rushed into the street and rang 999.

Paramedics arrived on the scene but were unable to revive Millie, who was pronounced dead by Dr Patrick Morgan at 1.08pm.