Teenager jailed for 15-year-old's road death

Danny Lee Pattinson

A teenager has been sentenced for causing the death of a 15-year-old boy in a road collision in Lees.

Danny Lee Pattinson, 18, of Trows Lane, Rochdale, was convicted of causing death by careless driving at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

Today (Monday 15 November 2010), he was sentenced to two and a half years' detention in a Young Offenders' Institution and banned from driving for four years, after which he will have to take an extended driving test.

Pattinson had been speeding in his mother's Mini Cooper S when he struck schoolboy Christopher Dale on Lees Road.

Moments before he collided with Christopher, Pattinson narrowly avoided hitting another youth crossing High Street, who had to jump up onto the kerb because of the speed at which the Mini Cooper was travelling.

Pattinson had stopped to offer a lift to two 16-year-old girls, who did not know him.

They said he set off at a 'fast speed', turned up the volume on the car stereo and they said they both felt uncomfortable with his driving.

Pattinson drove along High Street, with a 30mph limit, at speeds of up to 40mph.

As the car continued onto Lees Road, Pattinson became aware of a group of teenagers crossing the road.

He beeped his horn at them without slowing, swerved to his right to avoid them, but hit Christopher.

Sergeant Alan Johnson from the Road Policing Unit said: "This tragic case highlights the fatal consequences of driving cars carelessly.

"Time and again a small minority of motorists try and show off. They drive their cars at speed and with a complete disregard for the safety of other motorists and pedestrians.

"Christopher, who was a young boy with his whole life ahead of him, was the unfortunate victim of Pattinson's immature and reckless behaviour. One life has been lost, but many lives have been ruined by the devastating effects his death has had.

"Pattinson will have to live with what he has done on his conscience for the rest of his life."

Christopher’s mother, Andrea Dale, said outside Minshull Street Crown Court Court: “He was driving badly out of sheer bravado and it cost my Chris his life.

“He was just showing off and now he has ruined all our lives.

“No jail sentence will bring back Chris, but that young man will still have everything to look forward to when he gets out.

“All we have is a life sentence.

“We just miss Chris so much. He was such a wonderful person.”