Regret the Error

ON November 6, in our report under the headline “Put the brakes on child killers” concerning’ the launch of National Road Safety Week and the campaign by road safety charity Brake to enforce 20mph zones around schools and homes, reference was made to the death of Gareth Ellesmere who died when he fell under a bus at Newtownards bus station.
The circumstances of Gareth’s death were cited as a case study in a press release by Brake in support of its campaign to reduce speed limits. In fact, as the inquest into Gareth’s death found, speed was not a contributory factor in the case. The driver of the bus, Mr Robert Todd, was not in any way to blame for the accident and was completely exonerated.
We did not intend to impute or suggest any fault on the part of Mr Todd and acknowledge that he was blameless.
We acknowledge that Mr Todd was deeply traumatised by the accident and we apologise to him for any distress caused as a result of our report. We accept that Mr Todd is entitled to damages and legal costs.