Father who reversed over son, 3, with telehandler jailed for 12 months

Neil Speakman said his son Albie’s death was ‘one bit of human error for a split second which has ruined my life’. A father who reversed into his three-year-old son with a farm vehicle, killing the “caring and affectionate” toddler, has been jailed for 12 months.

Albie Speakman suffered catastrophic injuries after he wandered into the yard where Neil Speakman, 39, was operating a telehandler vehicle at their farm in Bury, Greater Manchester. Speakman was this month cleared of gross negligence manslaughter over Albie’s death in July 2022, after the toddler had been left to play in an insecure garden area in front of the farmhouse in warm weather. The father said the incident was a “tragic accident”.

However on Friday he was sentenced to 12 months in prison after admitting to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act in failing to ensure the safety of Albie. The toddler’s mother, Leah Bridge, had dropped off her son at the farm for a regular weekend visit with Speakman who she separated from shortly after Albie’s birth.

Sentencing judge Mr Justice Bourne told him caring for his son should have come first and he should not have been working. “To state the obvious it was a terrible tragedy for the child, for you and for Ms Bridge and the other family members,” the judge said.

“You have got to face up to the responsibility of that. “What happened on July 16 2022 was not bad luck. It was an entire failure to look after Albie and keep him safe. It was not appropriate for you to work. Caring came first. “There were three adults at the farm that day so there was nothing difficult in keeping him safe.”.

Giving evidence during the trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Speakman said that “seconds before” the collision he had seen his son sat in the garden playing with the family dogs. Speakman told the jury he “checked profusely” for blind spots and did not see his son.

He said: “I looked over both shoulders a number of times, I have gone fully round, 180 degrees. If I thought Albie was even an inch into that yard I would never have moved that vehicle. “If I thought for one second he was not on that grass I would not even have moved that stupid thing.”.

In tearful evidence, he said it was a “tragic accident” which had ruined his life. He added: “I messed up, I shouldn’t have left him there. “It’s one bit of human error for a split second which has ruined my life.”. In an emotional tribute released after his death, Albie’s mother Leah said she will miss “everything” the “incredibly loving, affectionate and caring boy who just wanted everyone to be happy.”.

“I will miss absolutely everything about Albie, his voice, his smile, the smell of his skin and the feel of his little hands on my face when he would say ‘I love you mummy girl’,” she said. “I’ll especially miss going on adventures with Albie, anywhere and everywhere we could have fun; nothing will ever fill the whole that he has left in our hearts, we are broken beyond repair.”.