Dangerous driver who was late for work jailed after death of ‘beautiful’ Chesterfield girl

Eight-year-old Emily Connor died following the collision on Monton Road in Monton, Salford, in November 2018.

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On Friday, 25-year-old Jon-Paul Caruana was sentenced to three years and four months in prison and disqualified from driving for four years and eight months after pleading guilty to causing her death by dangerous driving.

Manchester Crown Court heard how on the morning of November 10 2018, Caruana, of Lawndale Drive, Worsley, was late for work and driving his blue Vauxhall Corsa at speeds of up to 50mph in the moments before he collided with Emily.

Emily – who was visiting her grandparents for the weekend – was crossing Monton Road while holding her grandmother’s hand to get to the bus stop to travel to the Trafford Centre, where they were planning to go shopping for the day.

Despite the road appearing initially clear, Caruana was seen seconds later driving down the road at speeds of 50mph and sounding his car horn before Emily broke free of her grandmother’s hand in an attempt to get to safety.

Emily was unable to avoid the car and, despite the best efforts of emergency services, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

Caruana was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and questioned by officers, where he repeatedly stated over the course of three interviews that he did not exceed over 30mph before the incident occurred.

Police Sergeant Lee Westhead, of Greater Manchester Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “The patience and dignity shown by Emily’s family throughout this investigation has been inspiring.

“This was a long and complex investigation into a sustained period of dangerous driving over some distance.

“Ultimately, faced with the overwhelming evidence gathered against him, Caruana had to abandon his lies and face up to the enormity of what he had done – all because he was a few minutes late.

“He treated other road users with contempt and his flagrant disregard for the rules of the road resulted in an unimaginable tragedy.

“I hope that Emily’s family take some comfort from the sentencing and I send them my sincere condolences and best wishes for the future as they continue to rebuild their lives.

“Drivers need to take heed of this case – nothing was worth the loss of the life of a wonderful little girl.

“We share our roads with vulnerable road users – treat each other with respect.”

After Caruana was sentenced, Emily’s family said in a statement: “The family and friends of our daughter, Emily, would like to take this opportunity to firstly thank everyone who came forward in assisting the police with their investigation.

“We would like to especially thank those who stayed with Emily at the scene – it gave us great comfort knowing you were with her.

“Emily’s brothers and ourselves have somehow got to try to move forward without our beautiful girl.

“We hope to live in a way Emily would have wanted us to – with grace and compassion.”

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