Bereaved mum tells dangerous drivers in Sussex, 'my 11-year-old son was killed by an insecure load’

  • ITV News Meridian's Joe Coshan went on a patrol with Sussex police and a bereaved mother, making a plea to drivers.

A bereaved mother has been speaking to drivers stopped by police for carrying an insecure load, telling them that is how her son died.

In December 2022, Maria Dennis lost her son Harry, who was 11, when an unsecured scaffold board went through the windscreen of the car he was travelling in.

The driver is serving a four-year prison sentence.

Maria joined Sussex Police officers as they carried out road safety checks, pleading with people to secure their loads properly before they get behind the wheel.She says she hopes sharing her experiences with drivers will make them sit up and take notice

  • Harry's mum, Maria Dennis want drivers to be aware of the consequences of taking shortcuts with safety.

Maria Dennis said: "My goal is today to tell them what could happen, what has happened to us and to Harry.

"I know life’s busy, but it just takes an extra five minutes of extra checking and checking that everything is secure and that it’s not going to move.

"A few of the drivers I’ve spoken to, they’ve got kids themselves, they’ve got lads that are 13 - the same age Harry would have been now, and it does hit home. A couple of them have got quite choked up."

Using special scales, officers can check a vehicle is not overweight. Credit: ITV News Meridian

The action today (6 September) saw police have been stopping drivers to check if their loads are secure and to check the weight of their vehicles.

If drivers were found to have an insecure load, they were not able to carry on their journeys until it was secured.

Some of those who failed the road safety check were given words of advice, others were given a £100 fine.

Commercial Vehicle Unit for Sussex Police, PC Barry Freeman said: "When you get up in the morning you don’t get up and say today I’m going to go out and kill someone - it’s a set of circumstances.

"It comes down to training, but what I would say to any driver is, before they drive off, make sure your load is secure. Ask yourself is it safe, is it secure and is it legal?

The patrols were part of Operation Rule, a joint operation with 27 police forces across the country, where officers are trying to take a proactive rather than a reactive approach.

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