The family of a teenager who was killed in a crash say they lost their opportunity to tell the man responsible for his death of the pain he caused them when he died before being sentenced.
Ellis Gibbs was aged just 17 when he was knocked off his motorbike by Toyota Aygo driver David Darlington in April 2024. The crash happened on the A6 Garstang Road at Claughton-on-Brock and Catterall and Ellis was rushed to hospital but could not survive his injuries.
In February, almost two years after the crash, Darlington finally appeared in court and denied causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving. A month later, he changed his plea to guilty and was due to be sentenced on June 24 but died around six weeks before that hearing.
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Speaking to Blog Preston, Ellis’s mum Zoe said she found out the news of Darlington’s death only after she had finished writing the victim impact statement which would have been read in court.
She said: “It’s sad that Mr Darlington has passed away however we now won’t have the opportunity to stand in front of him and have our victim impact statements read out so he could understand the devastation he caused to our lives .
“Ellis was a one of a kind, such a special young man with an old soul, he was loving, caring, funny, hardworking and had a willingness to help and please everyone.”
Ellis was working as an apprentice landscaper at Wyre Gardens and at just 17 had his whole life ahead of him. His family must now live with the pain of his loss.
Zoe said: “Ellis had his life abruptly cut short and has missed out on so much and family gatherings are hard. It’s not just what Ellis has missed out on it’s the endless possibilities and his future that he won’t ever do, he won’t get the opportunity to fulfil his dreams, open his own business, get married, have children and carry the family name on, he won’t be an uncle, we won’t be grandparents to his children the list is endless and something that he should never have been deprived off when he was just coming home from work.
“An error of judgement, a momentary lapse in concentration, whatever it was we just wanted Mr Darlington to be held accountable for what he had done and get some justice for Ellis. We can at least take some comfort from the fact that he did eventually plead guilty even though he won’t now be sentenced for it.”
