Dewsbury: Tragedy as toddler dies after being reversed over by dad's car

A toddler was tragically killed after her dad reversed over her with his car, an inquest heard. Haniyah Bint Vagas Youni, who was 19 months old, had been playing in the garden before being run over in the driveway in Dewsbury, on May 21, 2023.

The inquest, which took place at Bradford's H M Coroner’s Court on Wednesday (March 6), heard that the child walked down a path by the side of the family house and made her way out of an unlocked gate to the front driveway at 10am.

Haniyah sat down in the rear blind spot behind her dad's BMW 3 Series and was tragically killed around 10 minutes later. West Yorkshire Police's Collisions Investigation Unit previously said the car sensors would not have detected her due to Haniyah's small size.

The inquest also heard that local residents including two doctors living on the street raced to the scene and tried to save her as her mum cradled Haniyah. She was sadly pronounced dead at 11.32am at Leeds General Infirmary.

There were no eyewitnesses, but the coroner described CCTV footage provided by Haniyah's neighbours as 'extremely distressing'.

Senior Coroner Martin Dominic Fleming then recorded her cause of death as a traumatic head injury. Paying tribute, he said: "Haniyah was a lovely, vibrant, healthy little girl. The great tragedy here is that there was nothing to alert the father to her presence.”

Haniyah's uncle Shabir Younis, who attended the hearing, was left in tears. Mr Fleming asked him to pass on his condolences to the girl's parents, who were not present at the inquest.