Parents demand car design changes after Plymouth boy crushed to death in parking accident

The parents of a young boy who died after being crushed between two vehicles are calling for an overhaul of electric car design.

Alfie Tollett was trapped between two cars when the driver of a Jaguar I-Pace pressed the wrong button and put the car into drive instead of reverse.

Alfie, who was just seven years old, had been putting on his rugby boots at Plymstock Albion Oaks RFC in Plymouth when the incident happened in February last year.

An inquest has now heard the driver of the £70,000 Jaguar I-Pace was trying to straighten up as he parked behind a nearby van.

Instead of hitting the reverse button, he pushed the forward button. This meant that the car moved forward as he pressed the accelerator, trapping Alfie.

An inquest in Devon heard that Alfie suffered fatal crush injuries to his chest.

The driver was not prosecuted because he died from natural causes shortly after the incident.

Alfie’s parents, Stephen and Gemma Tollett, are now calling on Jaguar Land Rover to change what they see as a “design fault” to ensure no-one else suffers a similar tragedy.

“There is so much we could say about Alfie, but we just want everyone to know he was our amazing, cheeky, precious little boy who we all miss and love so very much," they said.

“Alfie’s memory will always be kept going through his two brothers and sister. Keep chasing the Pokemons, riding the unicorns, and scoring the goals up there our special Alfie Moo.

“We’d like to thank everyone who has sent kind messages of support for our family since that terrible day. Alfie will be forever in our hearts.

“We thank the coroner for her findings and the confirmation that she will write to Jaguar Land Rover about whether additional steps can be taken to make this electric car safer.

“We would welcome anything that prevents any other family from having to go through what we have as a family, and that includes all manufacturers of electric vehicles to review their control designs in light of this case.

“We have lost our beautiful son Alfie because of what we see as a design flaw and we are passionate for this to never happen again.”

The inquest concluded a verdict of accidental death.

However, Deborah Archer - assistant coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay - said she was concerned about the design of the car.

Currently, the car can be switched between the two by simply pressing one of two buttons on a console.

She said: “There were a number of errors that were made by the driver which caused or contributed to the death.

“However, these errors occurred as a result of there being no intermediary step within the Jaguar I-Pace being necessary to put the car into drive/reverse other than pressing a button.

“In the police officer’s opinion, if there had also been a lever or something similar present in the vehicle that needed to be engaged before a button was pressed this may have alerted the drive to the fact that he had pushed the incorrect button on the three-button console.”

Writing to the chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, she said there is a risk more deaths could occur “unless action is taken”.

Jaguar Land Rover has until 22 October to respond to the coroner’s concerns.

In a statement, the manufacturer said: “We have received correspondence from the coroner and shall be responding in due course.

“Our thoughts and sympathies, however, are with the family of Alfie Tollett following his accidental death.”

Hollie Muckley, from law firm HCC, who supported the family at the inquest, said: “The coroner has now formally concluded the inquest and, although this was hugely challenging for the family, it has gone some way to answering key questions they had about the circumstances.

“The family await the response from Jaguar Land Rover in relation to the prevention of future deaths order instructed by the coroner.”