Man convicted over Bromley car death of Josh Osborne, 11

Josh Osborne tragically died after he was hit by a Ford Fiesta being driven by the offender on a road in Orpington in April 2019.

Following a week long trial at Woolwich Crown Court, David Lockyer, 74, and was convicted by a jury of causing death by careless driving and causing death while driving a motor vehicle while unlicensed.

He will be sentenced on January 22, 2021.

Detective Sergeant Steve Cannings, of the Met's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This is an absolutely tragic case in which the life of a young boy has been lost due to an act of careless driving.

"The anguish of Josh's family has been compounded by the fact Lockyer should not have been driving at the time of the collision as he did not have a valid licence."

The court heard Josh Osborne, aged 11, died after being hit by a Ford Fiesta being driven by Lockyer on 13 April 2019 on Court Road, near the junction with Goddington Lane in Orpington.

An investigation was launched by the Met's Roads and Transport Policing Command and it was established Josh was crossing the road with three other boys when he was struck by Lockyer's vehicle.

The court heard Lockyer did not slow/brake or react to the first two boys crossing the road in front of his vehicle, but maintained his speed.

Josh (and one of the other boys) had been partially obstructed by the geography of the road and also vehicles that had just passed them. Lockyer’s brake lights illuminated 0.4 seconds before he collided with Josh.

Lockyer, of Vinson Close, Orpington, slowed to about 35mph after the impact but then accelerated away, back up to 45mph.

Another motorist went after him and confronted him at the next set of traffic lights, then attempted to block him in but Lockyer reversed back and drove around him.

After turning left at the next junction Lockyer did a U-turn and returned to the scene. There he was arrested and taken into custody.

The investigation established Lockyer had failed to renew his driving licence after it had expired. Despite being a MOT examiner, he had not had a valid driving licence since January 2019.

Josh was taken to hospital but died on 15 April 2019.

DS Cannings added: "I would like to praise the dignity and courage of Josh's family who have attended every day of the trial and I support their efforts to ensure a case like this never happens again."