'The speeding is shocking': Anger vented after hit-and-run death in Walsall
"We’re all here to try and prevent another life from being taken. But we feel like we’re being ignored."
These were the passionate words of residents of Beechdale in Walsall at a police and community meeting on Tuesday.
Planned weeks earlier, it was meant to just be a standard meeting about crime safety – but after a tragic fatality on Cavendish Road just days before, dozens of residents turned out to question police officers and councillors about how to make the area safer for all and stop speeding on the roads.
Almost 50 residents packed out the Frank F Harrison Community Centre in Walsall for the evening. The meeting was also attended by six police officers and three councillors.
Residents were frustrated and, calling out over each other to be heard, they said they were “not being listened to”, that “nobody cared” and felt their issues were “being ignored”.
Fifty-two-year-old Kulvinder Kaur died after being hit by a car in Cavendish Road on Thursday, September 12.
Days later 20-year-old Lewis Jukes was charged with causing her death by dangerous driving. He is currently in custody.
'Shocking speeding'
Simon Vurlan, aged 44, has lived on Cavendish Road for 40 years and has never wanted to move away due to family being in the area. But he said he worried about his younger sisters and his elderly parents living in the area.
He said: “We are all here to try and prevent another life from being taken.”
He added afterwards: “You only have to be in Cavendish Road a few hours and the amount of speeding is shocking. This isn’t something that happens once or twice a day, it’s three or four times a day.
“We’ve said for a while that something like this [the crash] will happen. I’m surprised it’s not happened before.
"The frustrating thing is that we can go to meetings like this, we can sign petitions but I came out of that meeting still feeling like I haven’t been listened to.”
Sergeant Steve Pursgrove attended the meeting with three police constables and three PCSOs, a bigger team than he would have brought to a standard meeting. He said he wanted to “show his commitment” to Beechdale.
He said: “This was not an accident. This was criminal driving. You could have 10 speed cameras on the road and that would not change.
“There are only a handful of us and a lot of what we do is behind the scenes.
"If we had the resources of course we would always have people out on the street. We need the community to support us, by giving us information.”
Issues
Councillor Gaz Ali, who represents the area for Walsall Council, said the Beechdale area “came across a lot of issues”.
As well as problems on the road, the meeting also discussed drug using in the area, problems with local youngsters, and other issues.
He said: “I’ve known the people of this community for a long time, and they are passionate about where they live.
“But I don’t want to criticise, I want to be fair to both sides – the police and the residents. I want to say, what do these perpetrators want, that cause problems in the area? What are they missing out on? We need to get a group together to concentrate on perpetrators issues.
“Kids and young people, they have nothing to do in the area. They need something to do. We need to listen to them, address their issues.”
Jukes is alleged to have been behind the wheel of a Peugeot 206 when the crash happened.
Mrs Kaur was pronounced dead at the scene and the car was found abandoned and damaged on nearby Gurney Road. Jukes has also been charged with stealing a Vauxhall Astra from the Wolverhampton area earlier this month.
Jukes, from High Street in Brownhills, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning where he was remanded in custody until October 15.
