Aaron Dennis: Emotional scenes as fatal crash driver spared jail
Aaron Dennis’ mother, Heidi Dennis, said she, her husband and her daughter are “three broken individuals” following the crash in January last year. Christine Heynes, 61, knocked the teenager off his motorbike[1] while pulling out of a junction in Curdridge. She was sentenced at Southampton[2] Crown Court on Friday but was spared jail[3].
Christine Heynes (Image: Solent News Agency) In an emotional sentencing hearing, tears poured down Mrs Dennis’ face as she read out her victim impact statement. She said: “You don’t grieve for a child once; you grieve over and over.
“693 days ago my heart was broken and we have been changed forever. “Every aspect of our family unit was ripped apart. “Every evening I go upstairs to bed and every time I think I can’t miss my boy anymore, then the grief comes over in a crushing weight.”
Mrs Dennis said she was teaching Aaron how to drive before his death. “The guilt I have for not keeping my own 17-year-old safe is sometimes too much to bear, but it’s what keeps me going, to keep others safe,” she added. John Dennis, Aaron’s father, said Heynes’ decision to pull out of Chapel Lane onto Botley Road on the evening of January 14, 2022 “robbed Aaron of a full life and robbed me of a son”.
In an emotional outburst, he demanded Heynes to “look at me” from her seated position in the dock. He continued: “I feel so utterly devastated with such a deep-seated flood of emotions – it has felt crippling. “The loss of a child is beyond comprehension.
I have resigned myself to a life of mourning and heartache. “The direct consequences of the abhorrent action has stolen from me everything I wanted to be – a lifetime father to my son and daughter.” At one point Judge Nicholas Rowland had to remind Daisy Dennis, Aaron’s younger sister, to only read from her victim impact statement after she shouted at the defendant.
Daisy said she “doesn’t know life without Aaron”, adding “the very day I was born he was there, and I thought he was going to be there forever”. Passing sentence, Judge Rowland said: “There is no sentence that can undo what has been done. “It’s impossible not to be moved by the statements that have been read out courageously by Aaron’s family.
“It’s no task to do justice to all involved.”
Heynes was handed a 12-month disqualification and a 12-month community order.
She must complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay a victim surcharge.
References
- ^ knocked the teenager off his motorbike (www.dailyecho.co.uk)
- ^ Southampton (www.dailyecho.co.uk)
- ^ was spared jail (www.dailyecho.co.uk)
- ^ Driver on trial over teenager’s crash death tells jury she is ‘devastated’ (www.dailyecho.co.uk)