A ‘perfect’ one-year-old was tragically run over by a car in a hotel car park after walking away from his mother the day before he was due to see his favourite TV show live on stage.
Jackson Yates, 17 months, ‘toddled’ away from his mother Cheryl as she was locking their car up at the Ibis Hotel in Salford, Greater Manchester on August 10 this year.
The youngster was believed to have been chasing after other members of his family, who were also invited on the trip to see his favourite CBeebies show – In The Night Garden – the next day.
Jackson, who lived with his father Carl, mother Cheryl and older brother Joshua in Yarm, Teeside, died after being hit by Deniss Tiscenko’s Toyota RAV SUV.
Mr Tiscenko, originally from Lithuania, was not charged with any criminal offence after police said they were satisfied the accident could not have been helped, Bolton Coroner’s Court heard today.
Jackson Yates (pictured with mother Cheryl), 17 months, ‘toddled’ away from his mother Cheryl as she was locking their car up at the Ibis Hotel in Salford, Greater Manchester on August 10 this year
Mrs Yates drove the family from Yarm to Manchester ahead of the In The Night Garden show at the city’s Trafford Centre.
She and Jackson were staying at a Premier Inn hotel, while other members of the family were booked into the Ibis.
They were dropping them off at the budget hotel and Mrs Yates had decided to stop off and change her son’s nappy, the inquest heard.
In an emotional tribute, Jackson’s mother described him as the ‘perfect little boy’ and said his death had ‘turned their lives upside down’ and ‘things have never been the same since’.
She said: ‘Our lives turned upside down and changed in an instant. It has never been the same since.
The youngster (pictured) was believed to have been chasing after other members of his family, who were also invited on the trip to see his favourite CBeebies show – In The Night Garden – the next day
‘Since what has happened I have had trouble sleeping and have had to take prescribed medication.
‘We are doing our best to find positives. So far it has been hugely distressing for us and we are struggling to come to terms with the magnitude of what has happened to our perfect little boy.’
Describing the day she added: ‘On Thursday 10 August this year we travelled down to Manchester to see In The Night Garden live at the Trafford Centre.
‘Jackson loved it and regularly watched it on TV. I was looking forward to it and seeing how much he ultimately enjoyed going.
Mr Tiscenko, who was not present at the inquest, said in a statement he thought he had run over a ‘speed bump’ and was travelling at around two miles per hour when the accident happened.
Jackson (pictured), who lived with his father Carl (pictured), mother Cheryl and older brother Joshua in Yarm, Teeside, died after being hit by Deniss Tiscenko’s Toyota RAV SUV
His car had safety features that were supposed to make a noise and show a display on the dashboard if there was a stationary pedestrian or object in the way – but they did not make a sound.
He said: ‘I would say that I was familiar with the car and would describe myself as a careful driver.
‘If the car detected a imminent collision then it would automatically apply the brakes.
‘I had been parked at the Shell garage as I did not know where the hotel car park was.
His mother told an inquest at Bolton Coroner’s Court: ‘We had been on his first but our annual visit to Disneyland Paris the previous year. We took a bus full of my family and friends and the highlight of the trip was Jackson’s face when he met Mickey Mouse. We had planned to go again when Jackson would have been around 20 months old and he would have loved meeting even more characters.’
‘The staff at the hotel informed me, and I drove with two passengers, including Maris Kalrinis who was in the passenger seat.
‘I drove the car slowly into the entrance of the car park and moved my way round to the entrance of the hotel in the car park.
‘The car park was a square shape and the rear entrance to the hotel was in front of me.
Pictured: Salford’s Ibis Hotel car park where Jackson Yates tragically died in August this year
‘I turned looking for a car parking space. I turned very slowly around two miles per hour in a large section of the car park,
‘A couple of feet away to my car I saw three people walking towards my car. On my right there were these pedestrians in the road.
‘I slowed down in case they wanted to pass in from of me but they didn’t at this point. I was about to turn.
‘The three people on the right and side of my car were still there.
‘I suddenly felt my car go over something, it felt like a speed bump. It was then that the faces of the three people next to my car changed.
The Yates’ family is pictured on their trip to Disneyland Paris before Jackson’s tragic death
‘I knew something was wrong. I thought what had happened at this point was that must have gone over a dog or a cat or something like that and I did not see a child near my car before this point.
‘One of the people started banging on my car window but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I was in shock and assumed I was still on top of what I had hit.
‘I put the car in reverse and moved the car back about one meter. I saw a lady pull a child out from the front of my car.
‘I was in complete shock and ran straight into the hotel to get help and call 999.
‘I did not see the boy before the collision and I have no idea where he came from.’
The passenger in his car, on the right hand side, also confirmed that he saw the three women who had been with Jackson, but that he had only seen the tot a ‘split second’ in the ‘instant’ before the impact.
In an emotional tribute, Jackson’s mother (pictured with his father Carl) described him as the ‘perfect little boy’ and said his death had ‘turned their lives upside down’ and ‘things have never been the same since’
PC Neil Pennington from Greater Manchester Police’s collision investigation unit told the inquest that he had viewed CCTV which supported the drivers version of events.
He said that the CCTV showed the whole incident, of the Toyota travelling slowly, and showed the family getting out of the car.
He added: ‘While Cheryl appeared to be locking the car Jackson was walking away towards the hotel, he was following other members of his family.
‘The CCTV shows that the other members of the family weren’t aware of Jackson’s presence.
‘He then began to toddle, what you would expect from a child of that age, and goes past the group of three and seems to slow and it is that point when the Toyota slowly turned right into the car park.
A post mortem report from Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital confirmed that Jackson (pictured with his parents) had died at the Ibis Hotel as a result of severe head injuries and multiple skull fractures
‘Unfortunately that is when the collision occurred. We are satisfied that the driver hadn’t committed any offence.
‘If there was any indication of that then he would have been arrested be we are satisfied that that was not the case.’
A post mortem report from Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital confirmed that Jackson had died at the Ibis Hotel as a result of severe head injuries and multiple skull fractures.
PC Holmes added that the raised nature of the car, the wing-mirror and the left hand drive had meant that the driver would not have been able to see Jackson as he stated.
Mrs Yates (pictured with Jackson), told the inquest: ‘Jackson loved it and regularly watched it on TV. I was looking forward to it and seeing how much he ultimately enjoyed going.’
He also told the inquest that he had investigated the alarm system installed in the car, and concluded that even if it had gone off at Jackson’s presence there would not have been enough time for the driver to react and the collision would still have occurred.
PC Holmes added: ‘He could see the pedestrians which he needed to be aware of. Jackson would have been asked from view by elements of the car and he probably wouldn’t have had any idea that Jackson was in such close proximity to the car.’
Recording a conclusion of ‘accident’ Senior Coroner Jennifer Leeming said: ‘The underlying cause of death was from the most tragic accident.
‘This will be properly recorded as an awful, tragic, desperate accident and I am so sorry.’
‘Perfect’ Jackson Yates is pictured with his father Carl before he died aged just 17 months
Paying further tribute to Jackson, his mother Cheryl said: ‘He was a happy easy-going baby who had all of the normal milestones.
‘At one doctor’s appointment we were told that he could potentially be 6 foot 2 inches when he was older as he was a very long baby.
‘Jackson first started crawling at eight months and could walk properly at nine. It was really quick for him to be walking.
‘We had been on his first but our annual visit to Disneyland Paris the previous year.
‘We took a bus full of my family and friends and the highlight of the trip was Jackson’s face when he met Mickey Mouse.
‘We had planned to go again when Jackson would have been around 20 months old and he would have loved meeting even more characters.
‘We had family outings regularly to soft play centres and CBeebies world at Alton Towers which was a family favourite.
Paying further tribute to Jackson, his mother Cheryl said: ‘He was a happy easy-going baby who had all of the normal milestones. At one doctor’s appointment we were told that he could potentially be 6 foot 2 inches when he was older as he was a very long baby. Jackson first started crawling at eight months and could walk properly at nine. It was really quick for him to be walking.’
‘A soon as Jackson was steady on his feet he was moving around quicker and quicker, he loved running and climbing things, wrestling with his dad and playing with him.
‘He was a massive daddies boy. Daddy was his favourite, they would play together for hours.’
After the inquest the Yates family said they have set up a scheme called Blue For Jackson to raise awareness of child safety in car parks.
Mrs Yates added:
‘We miss him every day, and there are always going to be a lot of what if’s. But I want to throw myself into preventing this from happening to anyone else.
‘We know it was an accident and we don’t blame anybody. There was nothing that could be done.
She added: ‘He (Jackson – pictured) was a massive daddies boy. Daddy was his favourite, they would play together for hours.’
‘I have got in contact with a lady from America. They have magnets called Parking Pals, which are designed for children to put their hand on the car in a fun way as their parents are getting out of the car.
‘We just want to highlight car park safety, and I will be selling these magnets and hopefully can provide a safety pack for young children.
‘We know that Jackson would have been to young but we just want to try to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.’
In October, one of his father’s friends Craig Michael, 44, organised a charity football match in his memory.
Middlesborough FC player George Friend attended and raised £2,200 for 4Louis – a charity set up by grieving parents to create memory boxes for others going through what they experienced.
Jackson Yates is pictured at Halloween at his home in Yarm, Teeside, before his ‘tragic death’
He was due to watch CBeebies programme In The Night Garden the day after he died live at Manchester’s Trafford Centre