Van driver charged after boy, 7, killed in hit and run while retrieving ball

William Brown died at the scene of the hit and run in Folkestone, Kent, on December 6.

A van driver has been charged with failing to stop after a seven-year-old boy was hit by two vehicles and killed while retrieving a football.

William Brown died at the scene of the hit and run on the A259 Sandgate Esplanade in Folkestone, Kent, on December 6.

An inquest into the schoolboy’s death heard he had been playing with friends in his front garden when the ball bounced over a wall.

When he went to fetch it he was hit by a van, with the impact then pushing him into the path of an oncoming car which also hit him.

Medics battled for 45 minutes to save him but he could not be revived.

William’s cause of death was later given as severe head injuries.

In a touching tribute, his mum Laura Brown told the BBC: ‘He was the sweetest boy in the world, so soft and gentle.’

His heartbroken dad William Brown Snr held up his son’s green football shirt while filming an emotional appeal for witnesses at the time of the fatal collision.

The van is alleged to have left the scene before the emergency services arrived.

On Saturday, Stewart Powell, 49, of St Mary’s Bay, was charged with failing to stop following a collision and with driving without insurance.

It is alleged that, at the time of the collision, although there was insurance in place for the vehicle, it was being driven outside the terms of that policy, the force spokesman said.

Powell has been bailed to appear before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on May 24.

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