Little boy’s heartbreaking words after his dad was killed in Shoreham Airshow disaster
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By SOPHIE CARLIN, TRAINEE REPORTER[1]
Published: 19:43, 21 August 2025 | Updated: 19:43, 21 August 2025
The heartbreaking words a little boy said after his father was killed in the Shoreham Airshow disaster have been revealed.
Georgio Polito, now 13, was just three years old when his dad, Daniele Polito, then 23, lost his life in the tragedy at Shoreham Airport in West Sussex on August 22, 2015.
Pilot Andy Hill, 60, crashed a Hawker Hunter T7 jet on to the A27 close to the airport's boundary[2] - with Mr Polito one of the 11 drivers on the motorway killed in the crash.
The ex-RAF airman and British Airways[3] captain was severely injured after crashing the vintage 1950s fighter plane he was performing in at the annual airshow.
He was cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence at the Old Bailey in 2019.
And on the tenth anniversary of the disaster, the dreadful words young Georgio uttered after he lost his dad have been revealed: 'My dad died for nothing.'
The boy's mother and Mr Polito's widow, Tanya Hewstone, 30, said: 'For a child to say that, it was really hard.'
It comes as the full-time mother calls for a criminal probe into the pilot to be re-opened, in a new petition she is set to launch.
Georgio Polito, now 13, was just three years old when his dad, Daniele Polito (bottom right), then 23, lost his life in the tragedy at Shoreham Airport in West Sussex on August 22, 2015. Pictured: The victims of the Shoreham Airshow disaster.
Top row left to right, Matthew Grimstone, Matt Jones, Mark Reeves, Tony Brightwell and Mark Trussler. Bottom row left to right, Dylan Archer, Richard Smith, Graham Mallinson, Maurice Abrahams and Daniele Polito
Pilot Andy Hill (pictured in 2019), 60, crashed a Hawker Hunter T7 jet on to the A27 close to the airport's boundary - with Mr Polito one of the 11 drivers on the motorway killed in the crash
The ex-RAF airman and British Airways captain was severely injured after crashing (pictured) the vintage 1950s fighter plane he was performing in at the annual airshow
She said Mr Hill has shown a 'no remorse' by reapplying for his pilot's licence twice, with the latest application refused in May this year by the High Court.
Ms Hewstone said her still grieving son has been excluded from multiple schools because of anger issues - 'compounded' by the fact Hill did not go to prison.
'Georgio has a lot of trauma', she said.
'I think it's hard for anyone to be a single parent, to be a completely alone parent.
'Because Georgio's a boy, I don't know how to answer the questions he has sometimes as he grows up.
'I feel like I've taken the full force of him losing his dad. The last ten years have been really hard.'
Mr Polito was driving in a BMW with his work colleague Matt Jones - who also lost his life in the tragedy - when their car was hit by the plane.
He was formerly engaged to Ms Hewstone but the pair had not been together in the three months leading up to the crash.
On the tenth anniversary of the disaster, the dreadful words young Georgio uttered after he lost his dad have been revealed: 'My dad died for nothing'. Pictured: Mr Polito's mother Lesley Polito, pictured in 2019
The boy's mother and Mr Polito's widow, Tanya Hewstone, 30, said: 'For a child to say that, it was really hard'.
Pictured: The Shoreham Airshow disaster
It comes as the full-time mother calls for a criminal probe into the pilot to be re-opened, in a new petition she is set to launch. Pictured: Emergency services on the A27 after the plane crashed on to the road in August 2015
She did not tell Georgio about his dad's death for more than two weeks after it happened as she simply did not know how to break the news.
The mother explained: 'I was feeding the ducks with him when it happened but I didn't find out Daniele had died until the following morning.
'When I told him, I said that daddy had been involved in an accident and he had to go up to the sky.
'I had his grandma with me at the time and Georgio said he was going to get his dad from the sky.
'A year after the accident, he was on a plane on holiday and he said he didn't see his dad.'
A coroner ruled in December 2022 the victims of the disaster were unlawfully killed, describing Mr Hill's flying as 'exceptionally bad' and judging it to blame for the crash that saw his jet explode in a fireball.
Senior coroner Penelope Schofield said the aircraft crashed as 'a result of the manner in which it was flown'.
But the Air India crash in June which left 270 people dead, including several on the ground, 'triggered' Ms Hewstone again.
A coroner ruled in December 2022 the victims of the disaster were unlawfully killed, describing Mr Hill's (pictured in 2019) flying as 'exceptionally bad' and judging it to blame for the crash that saw his jet explode in a fireball
Senior coroner Penelope Schofield said the aircraft crashed as 'a result of the manner in which it was flown'. Pictured: Emergency services on the A27 after the Shoreham Airshow disaster
It comes after Mr Hill recently declined to say sorry for the awful events of that day.
Pictured: The Shoreham Airshow disaster
It left her determined to get the Shoreham Airshow case reopened: 'There should be justice for all the families and the pilot should not be a free man.
'If I was in a car and dodged a pothole and killed 11 people, I'd be in prison.
She added: 'He said before flying that plane, he felt unwell, therefore he should never have flown. He also said he blacked out but there's no proof of that.'
On the anniversary day itself tomorrow, Ms Hewstone and Georgio will head to the memorial at the motorway bridge to pay their respects to Mr Polito.
'It doesn't feel like it's been ten years at all', she reflected.
'It's weird to think it's been ten years and no justice, no closure - I can't believe it happened. Any future has been taken away.
Where would we be now?'
It comes after Mr Hill recently declined to say sorry for the awful events of that day.
A spokesperson for him told The Mirror[4] last week: 'Mr Hill does not want to make any public statement about the tragic events of Shoreham.'
A spokesperson for him told The Mirror last week: 'Mr Hill does not want to make any public statement about the tragic events of Shoreham'. Pictured: The moment before the plane crashed
Earlier this year, Mr Hill's final attempt to regain his pilot's licence through a legal challenge was refused at the High Court. Pictured: The moment before the plane crashed on to the A27
He had lodged a Judicial Review just months after he lost an appeal following a two-day hearing in London in October last year.
Pictured: A graphic showing the failed loop-the-loop stunt Mr Hill performed at the Shoreham Airshow before he crashed on to the A27
Earlier this year, Mr Hill's final attempt to regain his pilot's licence through a legal challenge was refused at the High Court.
He had lodged a Judicial Review just months after he lost an appeal following a two-day hearing in London in October last year.
The decision to challenge the ruling was heavily criticised by families who lost loved ones in the Shoreham Airshow disaster.
Mr Hill's lawyers previously argued the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) took the decision to stop him flying based on public reaction to the 2015 tragedy.
The annual Shoreham Airshow, which had been running since 1989, has not run since.
The CAA previously said: 'Following a public hearing on a challenge by Andrew Hill to a UK Civil Aviation Authority proposal to revoke his pilot and flight radio telephony licences, the Civil Aviation Authority's decision panel has confirmed that proposal and Andrew Hill's licences will now formally be revoked.
'Following the crash at the Shoreham Airshow in 2015 in which 11 people died, Andrew Hill's licences were suspended, and he has been unable to fly in the UK since then.
'The thoughts of everyone at the UK Civil Aviation Authority remain with those affected by the tragic crash.'
References
- ^ SOPHIE CARLIN, TRAINEE REPORTER (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Pilot Andy Hill, 60, crashed a Hawker Hunter T7 jet on to the A27 close to the airport's boundary (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ British Airways (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ The Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)