Alfie Tollett: Family of boy, 7, killed after being crushed by Jaguar car urge manufacturer to fix 'design flaw'

Seven-year-old Alfie Tollett was crushed and killed in a fatal incident that took place in February 2023. The young boy was pinned and crushed between two vehicles as he put on his rugby boots while attending his brother’s match at Plymstock Albion Oaks RFC in Plymouth.

The driver of the Jaguar I-PACE electric car is said to have pressed the wrong button while attempting to reverse the vehicle. An inquest held in Devon into the young boy’s death heard that the SUV driver “relied on feel” to determine where the reverse button was, but accidently accelerated forward for around 10 seconds where the car struck Alfie.

Alfie’s father Stephen quickly tried to move the family car forwards, but the seven-year-old was already badly injured and later died from his injuries. A cause of death was later confirmed to be blunt traumatic chest injuries.

Stephen and Alfie’s mother Gemma Tollett have called on Jaguar to change the design of the car to prevent any more deaths. They said in a statement: “We thank the coroner for her findings and the confirmation that she will write to Jaguar Land Rover about whether additional steps can be taken to make this electric car safer.

“We would welcome anything that prevents any other family from having to go through what we have as a family, and that includes all manufacturers of electric vehicles to review their control designs in light of this case. We have lost our beautiful son Alfie because of what we see as a design flaw and we are passionate for this to never happen again.”

Jaguar I-PACE vehicles are automatic, meaning that they do not have a conventional gear stick. Instead, there are three buttons for the driver to select - drive, neutral and reverse.

The inquest heard that the 55-year-old Jaguar driver had “used his left hand to select the reverse button” on the car, which had belonged to his wife. He did not check which button he had selected, instead relying on feel.

Deborah Archer, assistant coroner for Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, said that that there had been a “number of errors” made by the driver which “caused or contributed” to Alfie’s death. The driver was not prosecuted as he died shortly from natural causes shortly after the incident.

Ms Archer said in her conclusion: “There were a number of errors that were made by the driver which caused or contributed to the death. However, these errors occurred as a result of there being no intermediary step within the Jaguar I-Pace being necessary to put the car into drive/reverse other than pressing a button.

“In the police officer’s opinion, if there had also been a lever or something similar present in the vehicle that needed to be engaged before a button was pressed this may have alerted the drive to the fact that he had pushed the incorrect button on the three-button console.”

Jaguar Land Rover has until October 22 to respond to the coroner’s concerns. In a statement, the car manufacturer said: “We have received correspondence from the coroner and shall be responding in due course. Our thoughts and sympathies, however, are with the family of Alfie Tollett following his accidental death.”