Civil claims have been filed at London’s courthouse in connection with a fatal single-vehicle collision in west London late last year that left an eight-year-old girl dead and several others injured.
The six statements of claim, filed in the Superior Court of Justice in London last week, involve a number of the victims who were injured in the crash as well as their families, according to Lerners LLP, the London law firm representing the plaintiffs.
Emergency crews responded to the scene near Riverside Drive and Wonderland Road around 6:45 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2021, after a vehicle mounted the curb and struck a group of adults and children ranging in age from six to 40 years old.
According to one of the claims, the group involved members of the 120th London Brownies, and consisted of nine children, two teenagers and two adults walking two by two on the north side of Riverside.
Girl Guides of Canada confirmed to Global News at the time of the crash that its members were among those involved.
An eight-year-old girl, Alexandra Stemp, was critically injured in the crash and later succumbed to her injuries in hospital.
Police charged 76-year-old Petronella McNorgan of London with one count of criminal negligence causing death and seven counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in January.
“These are civil claims seeking compensation for the damages suffered by the family of Alexandra Stemp whose life was cut tragically short, as well as for the other surviving victims of this accident and their families who have experienced significant injuries and losses,” a statement from Lerners LLP reads.
McNorgan and her husband, Gerald McNorgan, also the vehicle’s co-owner, are named as defendants in the six claims, which each accuse the couple of negligence.
Also named are several insurance companies, including Co-Operators, Pembridge, Scottish & York, Security National/TD, and TD Home and Auto.
Combined, the claims seek more than $15 million in damages.
Twenty-one people are named as plaintiffs in the six claims, including six children and two parents who are identified as having been struck, one fatally — Stemp.
The claims detail the serious and permanent emotional and physical injuries the seven surviving victims are alleged to have sustained in the crash.
One girl, now nine, sustained a subdural hematoma, bibasilar atelectasis, adrenal hemorrhage, post-concussive symptoms, nightmares, and emotional dysregulation, among other injuries, one claim reads.
Another girl, now seven, sustained a traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness, a concussion, a hematoma to the back of the head, and bruising, a second claim states, adding that the child now suffers from PTSD, emotional dysregulation, and panic and anxiety.
A third girl, now eight, suffered a mild traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness, a significant subgaleal hematoma, a liver laceration, peripheral pulmonary contusions, and more, according to another claim.
Her mother, now 40, sustained a life-threatening hemorrhage, several fractures, ligament injuries, a traumatic perineal injury, and back pain, among other injuries, the claim says.
Both now suffer from anxiety, sleep disturbance and other lingering emotional wounds, the claim adds.
One of the claims, filed by the family of Alexandra Stemp, details the emotional toll the eight-year-old’s death has had on her parents and sibling.
According to the claim, Stemp’s mother, father and 12-year-old brother continue to suffer from “ongoing, severe and permanent psychological injuries and impairments,” including severe emotional distress and nervous shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances and persistent fatigue.
The claim details the night of the crash, when the three relatives of Alexandra Stemp attended the scene and witnessed “distraught survivors and distressed first responders,” who told them to go to the trauma centre.
The three, unaware of Alexandra’s condition, arrived at the hospital, and while waiting for doctors to update them, “their first sight was of Alex being rushed by on a stretcher, while emergency manoeuvers were being performed,” the claim says.
The six statements of claim have not been proven in court.
“The extent of the impact of this incident on the lives of our clients is extensive. A child was killed. Other children and adults have suffered serious physical and emotional injuries,” the statement from Lerners LLP reads.
“They have experienced significant pain, injury and loss of mobility. They have suffered, and continue to suffer, from trauma and anxiety.”
At the time of the crash, police alleged that a 76-year-old woman had been driving westbound along Riverside when she struck a vehicle that was waiting at a red light at Wonderland. Riverside slopes down to the west toward the intersection.
The woman’s vehicle continued through the intersection, mounted a curb, struck a light post, struck a small tree and then struck the group of pedestrians who had been walking eastbound on the north side of Riverside, police said.
In January, Phil Millar, the lawyer representing McNorgan in the criminal matter, told Global News that his client’s brakes malfunctioned as she went down the hill and “did her best to try to stop.”
“That day she had had her brakes serviced at the dealership … and we were able to identify that there was a fluid spill in her driveway on the same day from the brakes,” he said, declining to name the dealership.
Neither the charges against McNorgan nor the position of her legal defence have been proven in court.
McNorgan is expected to return to court to address the charges on Oct. 5.