Baby Ciaran: Jury told no defects on car that hit and killed 18-day-old boy

James Davis, 35, is charged with causing the death of Ciaran Leigh Morris on Easter Sunday last year when his pram was hit by a car, in High Street, in Brownhills.

The 18-day-old, who was being pushed along the pavement in his pram by his parents, died in hospital from his injuries.

Davis was at the wheel of a BMW travelling along the A452 towards Shire Oak which veered across the centre line and struck the offside front of a Ford B-Max travelling in the opposite direction before mounting the pavement where the family were walking.

Giving evidence at the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court on ThursdayWest Midlands Police collision investigator Pc Darren MacDonald said the "BMW veered across the offside, mounted the footpath and struck the pushchair" which was then pushed into a wall, resulting in Ciaran suffering "fatal injuries".

"No defects were identified on either vehicle that could have caused or contributed to the collision," he said.

Under cross-examination by Mr Nicholas Syfret QC, defending barrister, he told the jury that there was no evidence to suggest that Davis had been distracted by any activity in the car, such as, using a mobile phone or by a passenger.

He said the BMW was captured by various closed circuit cameras driving into the town centre and the images were used to calculate its "theoretical" average speed. He said at the point of collision that the BMW was slowing down after being driven at speeds of up to 67mph on a 30mph zone seconds before the crash.

He conceded that the car would have been doing about 29.4mph at the point of collision and that a store camera had captured the brake lights being illuminated, which was not in the report.

The jury previously heard that the defendant fled the scene on foot, but later turned himself in to the police. Davis gave a negative breath test, but he failed a 'finger to nose' co-ordination test while a blood test revealed he had 1.7mg of THC in his system, just below the legal amount of 2mg for driving.

The defendant, a builder, claimed he suffered a coughing fit and had passed out moments before the incident.

Davis, of Croxtalls Avenue, Dudley Fields, Bloxwich, denies causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while uninsured and causing death by careless driving on April 4 last year.

The trial continues.