Father charged over quadbike death
Updated on 23 July 2008
The father of seven-year-old Elizabeth Cooke who died after her quadbike was in collision with a Range Rover, has been charged with manslaughter by gross neglect.
Elizabeth and her brother Jack, ten, were riding behind a Range Rover driven by their father Gary, 46, when the accident happened on Boxing Day last year, police said.
They were going down a hill on a narrow country lane near the family home in Blackmore, Essex, when Elizabeth's machine collided with another Range Rover travelling in the opposite direction.
Elizabeth was initially taken to her home about half a mile away, but a police spokesman said the youngster died shortly after arriving at hospital in nearby Chelmsford.
Mr Cooke was charged on Wednesday after reporting to a police station and released on bail pending his court appearance.
He was originally arrested in January and released on bail while police investigated "all the circumstances" of the incident.
At the time, police said the driver of the Range Rover which was in collision with Elizabeth's quadbike - a 28-year-old woman who lived nearby - would not be charged with any offence.
Crown Prosecution Service sources said Mr Cooke would appear before magistrates in Grays, Essex, on July 31.
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