Charlotte Adams

Grief over hit-and-run death girl

The family of a five-year-old girl who died in a hit-and-run incident have spoken of their grief at her death.

In a statement they described Charlotte Adams as "cheeky and cute", and asked for witnesses to help the police find the driver of the car.

Charlotte and her mother were struck by a red BMW close to their home in Lower Clapton, east London. Two men were seen running from the car.

A man arrested in connection with the incident was later released on bail.

The girl was returning home on Thursday evening with her parents and older sister, having seen her father Martyn Adams, 45, perform as Santa in a play at a nearby school.

They were near their home at Bicknor House on the Pembury Estate when the BMW moun
ted the pavement, striking Charlotte and her mother, Jean Adams.

The girl was taken to Homerton Hospital where she died. Mrs Adams, 39, was being treated for chest and shoulder injuries and was described as being in a "serious but stable" condition.

A tearful Mr Adams said: "We were coming down the stairs outside the estate, more or less home, and the next thing I hear a crunch. I look back and there's a car.

"I see that my wife has gone flying and Charlotte disappeared. She was under the car somewhere. I could not see her.

"My wife has six broken ribs and she's in intensive care. Charlotte had just disappeared and I realised she was gone."

'Adorable girl'

The family issued a joint statement calling for help to find the driver and passenger of the car who fled the scene.

The family said: "Charlotte is an adorable girl. She is polite and loving; cheeky and cute.

"This has ruined our lives. We thought we were home, we thought we were safe and then this car took away our pr
ecious baby and almost her mother too.

"We appeal to anyone who can help the police catch the people who did this to come forward and help ease our pain."

Sgt Jim Mills, from the Collision Investigation Unit, said: "We're really quite astonished that the people who have done this have not taken responsibility for their actions."

The car is a J-registration BMW 520SE and the passenger was described by police as black, 6ft 3ins tall and well-spoken. The driver is also believed to be black.
*****

*****
A 20-year-old man has been charged over the hit-and-run death of five-year-old Charlotte Adams.

Charlotte and her mother Jean Adams were struck by a red BMW close to their home in Lower Clapton, east London on December 15 last year. Two men were seen running from the car.

The youngster was returning home with her parents and sister Bernadette, 15, after seeing her father Martyn Adams, 45, perform as Father Christmas in a school play.

Charlotte was taken to Homerton Hospital where she died. Jean, 39, suffered severe chest and shoulder injuries but survived.

Emmanual Amoah has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

He will appear before Thames Magistrates Court in east London on April 6.

A 29-year-old man arrested in connection with the inqu
iry has been released by police without further action.

The family had issued a joint statement calling for help to find the driver and passenger of the car.

The family said: "Charlotte is an adorable girl. She is polite and loving, cheeky and cute.

"This has ruined our lives. We thought we were home, we thought we were safe and then this car took away our precious baby and almost her mother too."
 *****

Father of five-year-old killed in hit-and-run demands a crackdown on young motorists

A father whose five year old daughter was killed in a hit-and-run accident by an unqualified driver added his voice to growing demands for a crackdown on dangerous young motorists.

Charlotte Adams was mown down as she walked home after watching her father play Santa Claus at a school party.

Heartless Emmanuel Amoah, 20, was behind bars last night after admitting causing death by dangerous driving in court.

Despite being dragged 25 yards beneath his car, little Charlotte might have survived if the unqualifi
ed driver - without insurance at the wheel of an unroadworthy car - had not repeatedly revved his engine in a bid to break free from the muddy grass verge he ended up on.

For as the powerful BMW wheels spun, the vehicle gradually sank to its axles - crushing the girl in the process.

A judge warned Amoah he faced a 'substantial sentence of custody' but the girl's devastated father Martyn said the current 14-year maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving was simply not enough.

"This man should get a life sentence for killing my Charlotte but of course he won't. In fact he will actually get credit for pleading guilty."

His comments follow those of Elizabeth Davidson, who is demanding tougher penalties for rogue drivers after her 26 year old daughter Margaret was killed by a speeding teenager.

Mrs Davidson's poignant description of the devastation caused by the death of the junior doctor - who died when 19 year old Nolan Haworth slammed into her car at 70
mph - moved a judge to tears.

It also prompted demands from the public and politicians for immediate action to curb dangerous young drivers.

A powerful coalition of insurers, motoring groups and road safety organisations has joined forces with Mrs Davidson and proposals include raising the driving age to 18 and imposing a one year minimum learning period.

Her daughter's MP has written to the Attorney General urging him to review sentencing rules for dangerous drivers.

Tony Baldry, MP for Banbury in Oxfordshire where junior doctor Margaret worked, said he saw no reason why Haworth - jailed for four years last week after previously being handed a driving ban - should be given credit for his guilty plea when his guilt was clearly proven.

The MP said the 'reckless' behaviour of drivers who turned cars into 'a lethal weapon' should be treated the same as the 'reckless' behaviour of pub brawlers who are handed murder sentences when they kill.

In a letter to Lor
d Goldsmith QC, he said: "I can see no valid intellectual practical distinction between two sets of circumstances.

"In one the defendant will receive a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment and the other, as in this case, what to everyone appears to be a somewhat derisory sentence of four years imprisonment."

He echoed Mrs Davidson's complaint that the maximum 14 year sentence had not been considered in her daughter's case.

"One has to ask, what further aggravating features do the sentencing guidelines need for an offence like that carried out by Nolan Haworth?" said the MP.

Little Charlotte was walking with her family just yards from her East London home last December when Amoah's car swerved off the road and ploughed into her, throwing her mother Jean into the air and trapping the child under the front wheels.

Amoah had leapt from the car and ran, leaving Mr Adams and neighbours frantically trying to pull the car off Charlotte.

Showing "no remorse whatsoe
ver" Amoah not only ignored subsequent pleas to give himself up but embarked on an armed robbery spree.

As the hunt for him intensified, he held up a string of sub post offices and greengrocers, using a large kitchen knife to force shopkeepers to empty their tills. His total haul, however, was just £250.

Amoah, of no fixed abode, had admitted five robbery charges at an earlier hearing and Judge Geoffrey Goymer, remanding him in custody at Southwark Crown Court, warned: "You must understand these are very serious offfences and the only outcome of this case is a substantial sentence of custody. The question I have to decide is how long."

Charlotte's mother Jean,40, was rushed to a hospital intensive care unit with a broken collar bone, shoulder and pelvis after the accident and still needs a wheelchair to get around.

Her husband said she was both "emotionally and physically incapable" of attending court. Mr Adams,46, who has two teenage daughters, said of Amoah: "I'd like
to see him dead, but then I'd be worried because if he said sorry to whatever's up there he might get to be up there with Charlotte.

"I want him to suffer for as long as possible. He was so stupid and selfish and he just legged it. I back the campaign for tougher sentences.

"This is something that is tragically happening all too often thses days. He has ruined our lives totally. We don't live any more, we survive." 
*****

Man Sentenced Over Death
Updated: 17:40, Monday November 06, 2006

A hit-and-run driver has been sentenced to nine years for killing a little girl who was walking home from a Christmas party. (so only 4 and a half years will actually be served).

Charlotte Adams, five, was dragged 25 yards beneath Emmanuel Amoah's car and would probably have survived if he had not tried to drive off.


Martyn Adams

Her father, Martyn, said after the sentence he would love to stab Amoah in revenge.

He said unlicensed drivers should be given a minimum of 10 years.

"This affects us 24 hours a day seven days a week," he said.

"Nothing will ever bring her back and that's all
we want."

Amoah repeatedly revved his car after hitting Charlotte in an attempt to break free from the muddy grass verge he was on. Instead, his powerful BMW sank to its axles, crushing the youngster in the process.

The 20-year-old unqualified driver ran away, leaving Charlotte's frantic father to attempt to rescue his daughter.

Meanwhile, others tended to his wife, who was thrown through the air by the crash and was severely injured.

At an earlier hearing at London's Southwark Crown Court, Amoah, of Charterhouse Road, Hackney, east London, admitted causing death by dangerous driving on December 15 last year.

He also pleaded guilty to five robberies committed while on the run. 

*****

Murderer: