Heartbreaking moment distraught father screamed ‘my boy, my boy’ after his four-year-old son was run over by neighbour’s minibus

A heartbroken father ran out of his house screaming ‘my boy, my boy’ after his six-year-old son was run over outside the family home.

Jayden Kearns was playing outside his home in New Rough Hey in Preston with other children around 4.35pm on March 26 last year when Chris Cleaver, returning home from the school run, ran him over due to a blindspot in his van.

The minibus driver pulled his Citroen Relay to speak to his own children who were playing with little Jayden before telling them he would come out to play after parking the van.

He checked his mirrors and reversed the van before hearing a loud ‘crunching sound’.

An inquest heard a neighbour heard the collision and saw the four-year-old being ‘dragged under the wheels’, with Mr Cleaver quickly stopping and rushing to the boy’s help.

Neighbours ran to the scene where the driver was found on the side of the road crying and with his head in his hand while the boy’s father ran out from the shower only wearing a towel crying out ‘my boy, my boy’.

The inquest heard how paramedics rushed to the scene before taking him to Royal Preston Hospital, but despite paramedics’ best efforts, the boy died at 5.50pm that day.

An inquest into Jayden’s death held at Preston Coroner’s Court yesterday heard how the boy was playing outside on his bike when Mr Cleaver, who operates a school run service for children with special needs, returned home from work.

Jayden’s grandmother, Kathleen Yates, was at her daughter Gemma’s home at the time, having brought Jayden home from the childminder. 

It was heard that when Mrs Yates heard Mr Cleaver enter the cul-de-sac she thought to herself ‘you k***head’ as she believed he was driving too fast.

Following the collision, neighbours ran to the boy’s help with one resident, Derek Winstanley, saying: ‘I heard a loud crunching sound and I could see little Jayden being dragged under the wheels. Chris jumped out and picked up Jayden.

‘I knew straightaway that it was serious. It looked like the life had gone out of him.’

The heartbroken grandmother ran out shouting at the father-of-five: ‘What have you done to my grandson?’

Paramedics gave Jayden a blood transfusion while at the scene and he was rushed to hospital by ambulance under police escort.

He had suffered serious head and chest injuries and was in cardiac arrest on arrival.

After Jayden failed to respond to treatment efforts he was pronounced dead at 5.50pm. The cause of death was recorded as chest trauma.

Meanwhile, Mr Cleaver passed a roadside drug and alcohol test as well as a field impairment test and eyesight assessment.

He was interviewed under caution by police, who he told he had checked his surroundings before setting off in the seconds prior to the collision but that his view was affected by a wheelchair ramp inside the minibus.

Collision investigator PC Rachel Carbery explained the vehicle had a ‘significant blind spot’ which would have restricted the father-of-five’s view of Jayden. 

Police used a mannequin to reconstruct the collision as well as viewing footage of the crash caught on camera.

PC Carbery was asked if Mr Cleaver had entered the cul-de-sac ‘at excessive speed’. She said: ‘From the CCTV that shows him entering New Rough Hey he has travelled in there and in my opinion it wasn’t fast. It would be of the speed I would expect.’

Mr Cleaver, who no longer lives in New Rough Hey, passed his driving test in 2012. He had worked for 247 Group Ltd, transporting children with special needs to and from their homes and Acorns Primary School in Preston.

He did not attend the inquest but his solicitor passed on his condolences to Jayden’s family. Jayden’s grandmother Kathleen Yates replied: ‘I’m sorry but we don’t want it.’

Since Jayden’s death his parents and sister have not been able to return to their family home. Mrs Yates said the family’s ‘whole world has been ripped apart’.

The inquest heard Jayden was a fan of Paw Patrol and Spiderman. He was particularly close to his grandma who said: ‘He was amazing; a nanna’s boy..’

Sergeant Matt Davidson said: ‘We would need to show his standard of driving fell below what would have been expected. From our investigation that was just not found to be the case.’

Before Area Coroner Kate Bisset concluded the inquest she asked Jayden’s grandmother if there was anything she wanted to say. Mrs Yates replied: ‘I can’t believe that k***head can get away with it.’

Ms Bisset recorded ‘road traffic collision’ as the cause of death and concluded: ‘There are no circumstances that evidentially indicated I need to refer this back to the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘Jayden Paul Anthony Kearns died on March 26, 2023, at the Royal Preston Hospital as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic collision at New Rough Hey.’