Baby killed after being thrown from car 'when mum didn't strap him in properly'
Morgan Kiely, then 19, had taken her infant son Harry to Clacton beach where she enjoyed a few drinks with friend Stevie Steel, with the adults 'relaxing in the sunshine' on July 13, 2022.
But as they embarked on the drive home, Steel hit a parked car, causing their Ford Focus to roll onto its roof, jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Harry, who was in a car seat behind his mum, was thrown through an open window and suffered 'unsurvivable' injuries after landing in the road.
Alex Stein, prosecuting, told jurors: '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 landed on the tarmac and as a young infant he had no way of protecting himself.
'He suffered a devastating skull fracture.
'It is a very, very sad case.'
Kiely, now 22, of Clacton, is accused of manslaughter by gross negligence. She denies the charge.
The court heard Harry had an Isofix Maxi-Cosi car seat and base which was installed in Kiely's grandmother's car.
But it was taken without the base to carry him to Steel's car for the day out to the beach, jurors were told.
At the time of the collision, Harry was in a child seat at the rear of the car with his mum in-front of him and Steel driving.
Jurors were told there was no suggestion that the car had been speeding.
The car carrying Harry hit the corner of a parked vehicle, ending up on its roof and Harry was 'thrown or fell' out the nearside window.
Mr Stein said the adults were 'left hanging upside down, held in by their seatbelts'.
Jurors were told Kiely 'loved her child' and there is 'no evidence to suggest that she was anything other than a loving and caring mother' to Harry.
Mr Stein said: 'Whatever happened that day, she certainly did not mean for it to happen.'
A 999 call made after the collision was played to jurors.
Kiely appeared to wipe her eyes and cry in the secure courtroom dock whilst the audio was played.
Neighbours rushed out to attend the scene immediately after hearing the incident.
One of them, a retired paediatric nurse, spoke to the call handler and provided some of the immediate care towards Harry.
During this Kiely was said to have been heard saying 'my baby, my baby, is my baby okay'.
Paramedics also attended but Harry was declared dead at just after 9pm on July 13. More Trending
Mr Stein said: 'We will anticipate that she [Kiely] thought she had secured Harry properly.
'I'm sure that any of you can appreciate that this would be very difficult for her.
'No parent would want to admit to themselves that they were the cause of their own child's death, but the evidence we say is quite clear that she failed to look after Harry properly that day.'
The trial continues.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
Fred West's forgotten first victim, 3, he killed with ice cream van for 'thrill'
Police found nine butchered women at Fred and Rose West's House of Horrors. But Fred's first kill was actually a TODDLER. Today, the family break their 60-year silence..... IT'S been three decades since the victims of Fred and Rose West finally received some justice - three decades since West hanged himself in his jail cell and three decades since Rose was handed a whole life sentence. The serial killer murdered at least 12 people between 1967 and 1987 but incredibly that wasn't the first time he had had blood on his hands. West ran over and killed three-year-old Glaswegian Harry Feeney in an ice cream van, two years before his presumed first victim Anne McFall disappeared. The death was ruled an accident, but now speaking for the first time Harry's family are adamant it was deliberate. Author, TV producer and former Mirror journalist Howard Sounes was granted gained access to more than 100 hours of police interviews for his new book The Fred West Tapes:Secrets of the Fred & Rose West Murder Investigation. Here, in Day Two of our exclusive serialisation, he exposes the family secrets that led to the making of the monster….. Adapted from The Fred West Tapes by Howard Sounes: FRED West often lied in his police interviews. But some of his most colourful stories proved to be true. One of the most shocking was that of Harry Feeney. West was living in Glasgow with his first wife, Rena, when he got a job driving a Mr Whippy ice cream van, touring the estates. One of the areas he visited was Castlemilk where cheap new homes had been built since the slum clearances. He told police he befriended a three-year-old boy, a lad who regularly came to his van. But one day, when Fred was driving out of the cul-de-sac where the boy lived, he heard a dreadful sound. 'There was an almighty bang, and I stopped,' Fred told the police, as seen in these previously unseen in the newly-released 1994 interview transcripts. 'I was on top of his head, and it was his head that made the bang.' He looked under his van. 'I see that the child was lying underneath, under the back axle …' Fred continued. In the days after the incident on November 4, 1965, and again after police questioning in 1994, investigators decided Harry's death was most likely a tragic accident. But according to Harry's cousin Isabel Kirby - who was there that day - the boy's parents, labourer Peter Feeney and his wife Patsy, were convinced it was deliberate. Peter went to his grave believing Harry was Fred West's first victim. Isabel, now 72, recently told me the whole story for the first time. Young Harry had been playing with her brother Raymond, when West's ice cream van appeared. Seconds later there was panic. 'I saw people running, a lot of yelling and screaming,' says Isabel. 'It was wee Harry lying in the street.' Harry's family and friends maintained there had been no need for West to reverse - a reason they became convinced it was not an accident. 'He done it for the thrill of it,' says Isabel. 'He was just plain evil.' Fred was questioned at the time, and while he was never charged with a crime, he fled Glasgow and returned to his home village of Much Marcle, outside Gloucester. According to Isabel, who now lives in Canada, the family never forgot West's name. When Fred and Rose made national news in March 1994, Harry's father recognised him immediately. 'The first thing my Uncle Peter said was, 'That's the f**king bastard that done it to young Harry,'' says Isabel. 'He said, 'that f**king bastard murdered my boy'.' It was by no means West's first scandal. He was born in 1941 and grew up to become one of the 'most handsome', eligible, 'charming' and popular bachelors in his rural area. 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Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Young mum who didn't strap baby into seat properly guilty of manslaughter
A mum who didn't strap her baby into a car seat properly before her drunk friend got behind the wheel has been convicted of manslaughter. Taylor Kiely was 19 when she travelled to Clacton beach in Essex with her friend Stevie Steel and her six-month-old son Harry on July 13 2022. They also brought three bottles of Prosecco with them, which Kiely and Steel drank over the course of several hours at the seaside. When the group set off home, Kiely got into the passenger seat in front of Harry in a rear seat, with Steel driving. As they drove away from the coast, the Ford Focus rolled and ended up on its roof – with Harry thrown from his seat through an open window. Later that night, the baby died from 'unsurvivable' injuries including a skull fracture. A key witness at Kiely's trial said it was 'highly likely' the straps of Harry's seat had not been secured before the group left the beach. Prosecutor Alex Stein told jurors Kiely, now 22, 'loved her child' and there is 'no evidence to suggest that she was anything other than a loving and caring mother' to Harry. Mr Stein said: 'Whatever happened that day, she certainly did not mean for it to happen.' A 999 call made after the collision was played to jurors. Kiely appeared to wipe her eyes and cry in the secure courtroom dock whilst the audio was played. Neighbours rushed out to attend the scene immediately after hearing the incident. One of them, a retired paediatric nurse, spoke to the call handler and provided some of the immediate care towards Harry. During this Kiely was said to have been heard saying 'my baby, my baby, is my baby okay'. Chelmsford Crown Court heard Steel's former partner Mitchell Bassett had earlier visited the group on the beach and offered to give them a lift away when they were done. Judge Robert Jay said: '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.' More Trending Steel has previously admitted causing death by careless driving while over the drink drive limit. The judge told Kiely it was 'obvious to everyone in this courtroom that you were a very good mother to Harry in all respects' and the child's dead was the result of a single failure. The court heard the defendant had given up her job as a carer and now has a four-month-old baby. Kiely was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence yesterday and given a two-year suspended jail sentence. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Cruise ship worker jumps overboard after 'stabbing female colleague' MORE: New arrest in cold case of mum killed 30 years ago walking home from shops MORE: Young people are falling through the cracks when it comes to sexual abuse and it's killing them
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Mum whose baby boy was thrown from car window after she drank rosé on beach & didn't strap him in properly avoids jail
The female driver of the car previously admitted causing death by careless driving while over the drink drive limit TOT TRAGEDY Mum whose baby boy was thrown from car window after she drank rosé on beach & didn't strap him in properly avoids jail Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A MUM has avoided jail after her baby boy was thrown from a car window and killed as he had not been properly strapped into his seat. Morgan Kiely, then 19, had been drinking rosé wine with her friend Stevie Steel at Clacton Beach when she got into her pal's Ford Focus with her six-month-old son Harry on July 13, 2022. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Six-month-old Harry died after being thrown through a car window after the vehicle he was travelling in rolled over Credit: Facebook 3 Morgan Kiely, 22, received a two-year suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence Credit: Facebook 3 Harry suffered a devastating skull fracture in the crash and died later the same evening Credit: SWNS However, as they drove away, the car rolled over and ended up on its roof. In the process of flipping, Harry was thrown from his seat, leaving the vehicle through an open window. He later died that night from "unsurvivable" injuries, including a skull fracture. Today, Kiely - now aged 22 - was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. Steel also previously admitted causing death by careless driving while over the drink drive limit. While Kiely chose not to give evidence at her trial, a key witness said it was "highly likely" that the straps of Harry's seat had not been secured. The trial at Chelmsford Crown Court heard how the mum had been a passenger in the front seat of Steel's motor, with Harry in the rear seat directly behind. The pair of adults had met up at about 3pm and bought three bottles of rosé wine on their way to the beach. While on the beach for several hours, they were briefly joined by Mitchell Basssett, Steel's former partner. He offered them a lift from the beach after hearing their plans to continue drinking that evening. However, they refused. Judge Robert Jay said: "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 heard that a distracted Steel hit a parked car while driving on Cherry Tree Avenue in the coastal town. Steel's Ford Focus had been travelling within the 30mph speed limit but rolled after hitting the static motor, eventually ending up on its roof. Both women were left hanging upside down by their seatbelts while Harry was thrown from the vehicle through an open window. Judge Jay said: "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 suffered a devastating skull fracture and was treated at the scene for more than an hour before he was rushed to hospital. Members of the public had come to assist at the scene, including a paediatric nurse. Despite the best efforts of medical crew to save his life at the hospital, he tragically died at about 9pm that evening. 'THIS WAS A SINGLETON FAILURE' In the trial, the jury reviewed a 999 call from the scene, an officer's bodycam footage, an expert witness who explained how the child car seat worked, and evidence from Mr Bassett. Judge Jay told Kiely: "Harry's safety was your responsibility. It should have been your primary concern that day." He said her negligent conduct 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 said. The court heard Kiely had given up her job as a carer and now has a four-month-old baby. Benjamin Summers, defending, had read out statements to the court describing Kiely as a "devoted and loving mother" to Harry, and who was "deeply caring". The court heard she had taken Harry on trips to Liverpool and Scotland in his short life to visit relatives, and had recently returned to work as a carer. The jury heard from an expert witness earlier in the trial about the child car seat and how it is designed to work. The witness said it was highly unlikely but not impossible the straps of the seat had been secured in the car. Mr Summers said: "Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful error, it was, but, we say, not making her grossly negligent at the time. "We say it is not as simple as saying the failure to secure a child in a car seat, full stop, is enough."
