Smash girl’s parents get £800,000

The parents of a girl left severely brain damaged after a speeding driver ploughed into their jeep were today awarded £800,000 in compensation.

Cerys Edwards, who was a baby at the time of the crash, now needs 24-hour care and relies on a ventilator following the accident in Streetly Lane, Sutton Coldfield, in November 2006.

Insurers for the driver responsible, Antonio Singh Boparan, today agreed at Birmingham High Court that the compensation money could be paid to her parents Gareth and Tracey. They said they welcomed the award but added that the cash would never bring their healthy daughter back.

A specially equipped house will be built using the money, bringing to an end the couple’s regular 150-mile trip to see Cerys, now aged two, at the Children’s Trust centre where she is currently cared for in Surrey.

Millionaire’s son Boparan, whose parents run West Bromwich firm Two Sisters Food Group, had been driving a high-powered Range Rover at 70mph in a 30mph zone, his trial was told. 

The 21-year-old, of Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, was convicted of dangerous driving at Birmingham Crown Court last month and jailed for 21 months. 

He was told by Judge Frank Chapman he had shown an “arrogant disregard” for safety. A number of people were injured in the crash, including himself.

Prosecutors were able to gather evidence about his speed thanks to a hi-tech German airbag system fitted to the Range Rover, which helped estimate Boparan’s speed at the time of impact. The case is believed to be the first in the UK to use such a system as evidence in a prosecution. 

The court heard Cerys remained on a life support machine and would never be able to walk or talk again. 

Cerys’s parents have now started an on-line petition calling for tougher sentences to be introduced for dangerous driving. Currently the maximum is two years in jail, but the Edwards family want this increased to 10.