Parents want driver brought to justice

THE distraught parents of a little girl partially paralysed by a teenage driver yesterday pledged to continue their efforts to bring the motorist to justice.

David and Ellen Heapes yesterday protested outside the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

They called for the teenager, who rammed into their five-year-old daughter Elizabeth, to be charged.

The DPP wrote to the Heapes last week telling them there was not enough evidence against the teenager.

The decision by DPP James Hamilton came after he agreed last June to reopen the case following a campaign by the parents.

Speaking at the protest, Mr Heapes said: “The DPP says there is insufficient evidence to charge this man. I would like him to explain why that evidence is not good enough. What does he need?” He said the gardaí had been confident the man was going to be charged.

“There were witnesses naming the driver. There were people involved in the incident naming the driver. There was forensic evidence.”

Elisabeth was walking to shops in Tallaght, Dublin, last November, when she was pinned against the railings during a violent clash between two Traveller families.

The intended target of the driver had been a member of a rival family.

As Elizabeth screamed with pain she saw the feuding families stab and hit each other with baseball bats.