‘I had his presents ready… realising he wouldn’t open them was heartbreaking’

With more than two months to go, Marcus Simmons-Allen was already counting down to his birthday and the festive season. He had plans in the diary for Halloween and New Year's Eve.

His mum, Paula Allen, had bought the first of his birthday gifts for December 20. And the 18-year-old budding engineer was already dreaming of a holiday the following year, possibly in Ibiza.

Then tragedy struck. He was fatally injured after being struck by a car, driven by a speeding killer who was uninsured and unlicensed. Paula watched her son's killer admit his crimes in court, before being jailed for six-and-a-half years^[1].

"You're looking at it thinking, 'is that how much my lad is worth, "she said. As Marcus and a friend crossed George Richards Way, in Altrincham^[4], on the night of October 10, 2021, he was hit by a car. The driver was travelling at around twice the speed limit.

Marcus' friend had tried to pull him out of the path of the oncoming car, before running to find Paula, who lived nearby. She found her son and held him 'dying in her arms'^[5]. He was rushed to intensive care at Salford^[6] Royal Hospital, but he couldn't be saved.

Marcus Simmons-Allen (Image: Paula Allen)

Connor Matthews, of Portland Road, Stretford^[7], was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison at Manchester Crown Court^[8] in February 2022. He pleaded guilty to causing Marcus' death by dangerous driving, causing death whilst uninsured, and causing death while unlicensed.

Police say Matthews had been travelling between 55 and 67 mph, around twice the 30mph limit. Matthews, now 24, was also banned from driving for eight years.

Paula admits she was disappointed at the sentence handed to her son's killer. It's a sentiment that many grieving families - and Manchester Evening News readers - often share when they hear how long a driver has been jailed and banned for after taking someone's life on the road.

"It's not right," said Paula. "If this was any other crime that took lives, there would be an uproar. These are people that are loved. We can't forget them. I won't - my lad won't ever be forgotten, as long as I've got a breath in my body."

Paula Allen with niece Georgia Ford (Image: Manchester Evening News)

Sentencing guidelines for driving offences have changed since Matthews was jailed. Those convicted of death by dangerous driving, for offences from June 28, 2022 onwards, can now receive a life sentence.

But there are high-profile recent cases where shorter jail terms have been given. Adil Iqbal, 22, of Hope Street, Accrington, was initially given a 12-year sentence for death by dangerous driving after killing Frankie Hough and her unborn child in a crash on the M66.

He filmed himself driving at speeds of up to 123mph on the motorway near Bury^[9], moments before the crash. Iqbal later had three years added to his prison term^[10] by the Attorney General. More recently, Chad Rimmington, 32, of no fixed address, was jailed for 10 years and eight months for causing death by dangerous driving, while driving an unlicensed and uninsured vehicle.

The cocaine-fuelled driver struck and killed Kathleen Kirby, 66,^[11] in Wigan^[12] as she walked home from a visit to a nature reserve. Paula said: "Sentencing has got to reflect the loss. There will never be a sentence that's enough, but it needs bringing in line with other crimes because it's not enough."

She added: "A lot of these offenders have been done before, they've been brought before the courts before, they already have a poor driving record. It's rare that they just suddenly kill someone on the road."

'He loved having fun'

Paula says Marcus was always 'front and centre' when it came to planning celebrations at this time of year. "He loved life," said Paula, 51. "He loved having fun. He was one for making memories."

She recalls the Advent calendars, the pantomimes and the times she would have to remind him not to eat the nice chocolate and biscuits that were being kept for Christmas^[13]. "We've always gone over the top at Christmas," Paula said. "We have lots of fun, going out to different concerts and pantomimes, we do things as a family."

By October 2021, plans were shaping up for Marcus' 19th birthday celebrations, while he had secured a ticket for the Warehouse Project for New Year's Eve. But it was a festive season he never got to enjoy.

Paula says facing up to the presents she had already bought her son, which he would now never get to open, was 'the hardest thing'. She is now preparing for a third festive season without Marcus, one which would have seen him turn 21.

Marcus Simmons-Allen was already preparing for the festive season when tragedy struck (Image: Paula Allen)

"I didn't think that this year we would be in a position to do it mentally," she said. "But you've got to carry on." Paula says she is motivated to keep going by her two daughters Grace, 16, and Frankie, 14.

She also knows that in her grief, she is not alone. Between 2017 and 2021, 123 pedestrians were killed on Greater Manchester's roads. The following year, 25 more people lost their lives after being struck by vehicles across the region.

Since Tuesday (November 21), a white plinth has stood on Market Street^[14] for each of the 25 pedestrians who lost their lives in Greater Manchester last year. Each plinth marks the person's age and gender, and on top rests a pair of shoes, symbolising their last steps.

It's part of the Last Steps campaign for safer roads led by Transport for Greater Manchester and supported by Greater Manchester Police^[15], which Paula is giving her whole-hearted backing to. "The loss to those 25 families, loved ones, their lives snatched on the roads - it doesn't bear thinking about," said Paula.

"We've got to stop trying to normalise loss on the road. It's not normal. We need to raise awareness, and that's why this campaign is so poignant, especially at this time of year... it's hard to see everyone around you get everything together for Christmas. It's very difficult to try and find normality."

The plinths on display at Market Street (Image: Manchester Evening News)

For Marcus' family, that 'normality' also includes birthday celebrations for his cousin, Louis. Paula gave birth to Marcus three days later in 2002.

She says Louis had been unsure about having a party for his 21st next month without Marcus, fearing it could be 'too much for auntie P', but Paula insisted her son wouldn't want the celebrations to be called off. "I know my lad Marcus," she said.

"He wouldn't want me to say it can't [happen]. He wouldn't want me to not be part of the celebration, that's not his way of thinking. It's going to be difficult, but he loved a party."

Paula says she 'always will' be haunted by Marcus' final moments. The trauma 'knocked her sideways', and she struggles to remember how her family managed to cope in those first months after his death.

But she is driven to make sure Marcus is never forgotten, and her campaigning helps her mental health. Paula said: "This is a way of helping me, that I'm not stuck down a rabbit hole. I do go to work, I'm functioning. At night-time it's difficult. I do have flashbacks, I do have night terrors.

Paula Allen is backing the Last Steps campaign (Image: Manchester Evening News)

"I need to be able to fight through it, find normality. I try not to focus too much on that side of it with my mental health. It would be easy for me to not get out of bed every day... that's not for me.

"My two daughters need to know that mum is there. They are going to have the same dreams and aspirations in life that Marcus had. He wouldn't want their lives to dramatically change, and believe me, it could on a tuppence - lives are destroyed on this."

Marcus' aspirations were to become an engineer. He was an apprentice at Farrat Isolevel, and carried out work on the site of the new Factory International venue in Manchester. The company named an award after Marcus for its apprentices, with Paula and Marcus' dad Chris, 61, both invited to see it being given out for the first time.

She says there was 'not a dry eye' at the venue, but Marcus would have seen the funny side of it. Paula said: "He wasn't a big lad Marcus, but he had bags of charisma and I know he would have been laughing."

'We have to be honest about the driving on our roads'

Paula claims that victims are 'forgotten after court', but it's important to remember each person was 'cherished' before their lives were cruelly cut short. "They will always be remembered by their loved ones," she said.

"They are mums, sisters, wives, husbands, dads, uncles, brothers. They have got a lot of people that have felt the loss of their lives being taken." TfGM says research shows children, young people and the elderly are more likely to be involved in serious collisions.

As well as the 123 pedestrians killed on the region's roads from 2017 to 2021, 1,004 were seriously injured across the region. The Last Steps campaign is urging drivers to take extra care on the roads, look out for all road users, check their speed and their vehicle.

Paula believes attitudes around driving need to change in Greater Manchester, and that dangerous behaviours can't just be 'brushed off'. She admits 'no one likes to be told they're a poor driver', but some of the moves made on the region's roads are reckless and put lives in danger.

The display on Market Street is a heartbreaking reminder of tragedy on Greater Manchester's roads (Image: Manchester Evening News)

"People seem to think it's just an error, but those errors, we are seeing over and over again," Paula said. "If you've got young children in the road, they don't need to be motorway speeds to be killed, it can be 30mph or 40mph.

"We need to get this acceptance taken away. People just need to be more diligent and responsible about the way they are driving, and aware of the Highway Code. You go out and the amount of dire driving you see, we have to be honest about the driving on our roads."

Thousands will notice the Last Steps display on Market Street as they make their way to celebrate the festivities in Manchester with friends and loved ones. Those were the type of moments Marcus loved most, and Paula is determined to make sure other families don't have to suffer the same loss hers did.

References

1. ^{^} before being jailed for six-and-a-half years (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^{^} She stole £35,000, gave money to family and bought luxury clothes... meanwhile five workers were 'laid off because of her' (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^{^} 'As my son got worse, we needed help - I wasn't treated as a human being... until it was too late' (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Altrincham (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
5. ^{^} held him 'dying in her arms' (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Stretford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Manchester Crown Court (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
9. ^{^} Bury (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
10. ^{^} later had three years added to his prison term (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
11. ^{^} cocaine-fuelled driver struck and killed Kathleen Kirby, 66, (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
12. ^{^} Wigan (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
13. ^{^} Christmas (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
14. ^{^} Market Street (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
15. ^{^} Greater Manchester Police (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)