Grieving mum warns others of the dangers of taking to the road

A grieving mum whose teenage son died after being thrown from a moped has warned of the dangers of taking to the roads on bikes that aren’t roadworthy.

Tina Richards’ son Kian Buckler was just 15 when, as a pillion passenger, he was catapulted from a 125cc scooter being ridden by his friend Brett Everitt following a collision with a car in Lunt Road, Bilston.

Neither boy was wearing a helmet at the time of the 29 November crash and, despite it being pitch black, West Midlands Police collision investigators discovered Everitt was riding the bike without headlights

Budding mechanic Kian was critically injured and tragically died two days later in hospital.

Everitt survived the collision and was later charged with causing death by dangerous driving, driving without a licence or insurance, and failing to provide a sample of blood for analysis.

And at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday (15 Jan) the 16-year-old, from Thompson Road in Oldbury was sentenced to five years’ detention in a youth offenders institute. He was also banned from driving for five-and-a-half years.

This is a tragic case in which two young lives have been ruined…it once again highlights the risks involved with young people riding motorcycles in a dangerous and reckless manner.

Everitt chose to do this without any regard for himself or other road users and ultimately caused the death of his friend Kian Buckler.

He will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life and I would urge anyone who is tempted to get on a bike and ride it in such a way to think very hard about the potential consequences.

The driver of the car that collided with the scooter drove away from the scene but officers later found the Toyota Auris on a nearby driveway.

Checks on police systems revealed the 37-year-old was banned from driving until August 2020 and he was later jailed for eight weeks after admitting driving while disqualified, without insurance and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

However, he was deemed not to have been responsible for the crash.

Mum Tina Richards said her son Kian made a “stupid decision” to get on the bike but said he would have steered clear had he appreciated its unsafe condition.

She said: “Kian always ensured he maintained his own bicycle properly and took great care of it. I know nobody made him get onto the back of that bike but he had no control over the way Brett rode it…and he would have avoided it had he realised its true condition.

“Losing Kian has left a great big hole in my life, which will never be filled. I miss his attitude, I miss his smile, I miss his presence. I miss him asking me for a bowl of cereal every night, I miss waking him up for school every day, I miss seeing him play with his little sister.

I will never get to see him go to his school prom, get married, have children of his own. I won’t get to see him open his Christmas presents ever again. His two-year-old sister keeps asking where Kian is and it’s really difficult trying to explain he’s not coming back.”

The judge lifted all reporting restrictions on the case meaning media can report the offender’s name despite him being a juvenile.