Family want 'justice' for moped death victim (01/2010)

The heartbroken family of a teenage girl killed on her moped are calling for an inquest into her death, in order to obtain “justice”.

Rosie Allen, 16, died when Zoe Couch crashed her Ford Ka car into the 49cc moped on Par Moor Road in Par near St Austell, Mid-Cornwall, in January 2010.

Couch, from Rose Hill, St Blazey, then aged 19, admitted causing death by careless driving and walked free from Truro Crown Court with an 18-month driving ban, and an 18-month community order with £500 court costs.

Initially she was charged with causing death by dangerous driving and denied the allegation.

She pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted the plea.

Records showed Couch received a text message to her mobile phone two minutes before she used it to call 999 to report the accident but it was impossible to tell whether she had read it before the crash.

Yesterday Miss Allen’s family attended a meeting with the coroner for Cornwall, Dr Emma Carlyon, to discuss if an inquest into the death should be held.

If a case has already been dealt with in the criminal courts an inquest does not have to be held.

Miss Allen’s mother, Gwen, told Dr Carlyon she felt certain questions about what happened on the day her daughter died had not been answered at the Crown Court.

She said: “We want justice for Rosie. It’s important that we get to hear all the evidence. We have not heard all the facts. The court case was so quick we feel some things were brushed under the carpet.”

She said the family were not happy the CPS had dropped the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving in favour of the lesser charge.

Dr Carlyon explained it was not the purpose of an inquest to apportion blame and if she decided a hearing was necessary Miss Couch could be called as a witness.

She said: “There has to be a legal reason for doing this (an inquest). We can’t just have an inquest.”

Dr Carlyon said she would consider the matter and let the family know her decision in due course.

Jonathan Richards, divisional Crown prosecutor for Cornwall, said: “There was insufficient evidence to prove Zoe Couch was guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, but that there was sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of her conviction for causing death by careless driving.”