Louis Thorold’s bereaved parents call Cambridgeshire police investigation ‘a shambles’

The parents of baby Louis Thorold, who was killed when a collision led to a vehicle mounting the pavement beside the A10 and hitting his pram, have demanded a different police force take over the investigation into his death.

Chris and Rachael Thorold have called Cambridgeshire police “a shambles” after being left without justice for their son’s death and his mother’s life-changing injuries 11 months on. They have complained to the force and to the Independent Office for Police Complaints.

Cambridgeshire police, meanwhile, have confirmed to the Cambridge Independent that they had not been able to interview one of the drivers involved in the collision on January 22, 2021.

In their letter of complaint, the Thorolds say: “The police have frankly been a shambles throughout this… at this point over 11 months after Louis died, no one has been interviewed, arrested or charged for any crime against Louis and Rachael.

“We are not seeking preferential treatment, we just wish for justice covered under current laws to be carried out swiftly and competently. This has not been the case so far.

“In order to move forward, we would respectfully request that this case is transferred to a more competent police force, free from bias and discrimination and that any pre-conceived ideas or ‘hunches’ about the crimes committed be disregarded and left up to the CPS to decide once a full a proper investigation has taken place.”

Rachael was pushing her five-month-old son Louis in a pram along the pavement of the A10 at Waterbeach when a collision led to a van leaving the road. Louis died at the scene and Rachael suffered extensive injuries, including serious head trauma. She was not expected to survive for 72 hours and doctors then warned her husband that she may never walk again. She spent 118 days in hospital.

Thankfully, Rachael has made an incredible recovery and is back at home and attending physio sessions seven days a week, continuing to defy the odds.

Her husband Chris, the finance director of Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, told the Cambridge Independent: “Rachael’s getting better all the time and at some point we want to start getting on with our lives, but a year after this happened no one has been charged, no one has even been interviewed. No one has been arrested. I guess we’re just at a bit of a loss to know why not, to be perfectly blunt.

“We can’t get a death certificate for Louis until the coroner’s case is closed, which means any criminal case has to be over first.

“We just want the police to do a good investigation, pass a good quality case to the Crown Prosecution Service and then let’s just all move on and learn what we can and make sure this doesn’t happen again to anyone else.”

He added that they felt let down by Cambridgeshire police for the lack of progress with the case and the lack of support they have experienced.

“I think, individually, they are quite nice people. But as a police force, as an institution, we’ve had nothing from them, nothing. And we have no support. I know that some of the witnesses who were there and who gave their details to the police have never been contacted to be interviewed and have had no support.

“Some of those people have had traumatic times, just as we have, because they witnessed this happen. I don’t know what I was expecting, to be honest, but I kind of thought the police would have to be there for victims. But they don’t seem to be at all.”

Chris added that while they have been concentrating on Rachael’s rehabilitation, it has been “a distraction” from their grief, but in order to deal with the tragedy of losing their son, they need some kind of resolution to the investigation into his death.

“The grief is really hard. But we are not just sitting here being sad and trying to find sympathy. It’s just there are so many burdens for us to bear and this police investigation is one of them, as well as the civil investigation and the coroner’s case. All of those things just weigh you down.

“So we’re now trying to deal with some of those things and we need to be able to move on in a positive way. Clearly we’re not happy people, we are probably really sad people. But making this complaint is a way of trying to move things forward. Because we’ve sat here for 11 months being completely out of control.”

He added that their Christmas had been “subdued” as they remembered the previous year when they had been with their son.

“We’ve had time to sit and chat and just reflect on things, it’s not been a happy time but actually the memories are nice.

“Last year we were with Louis on our own because of Covid and it was the best Christmas ever to be honest. So we’ve had mixed emotions, but we’re coping – or at least we are still fighting.”

At some point in the future, the couple are thinking about having another baby.

Chris said: “Rachael asked her consultant when she could have another baby. So clearly it has been on her mind. I think we just want to get ourselves back to the best people we can be, really. We just need to get these things finished so we can move on with our lives.”

The couple have established the Louis Thorold Foundation to campaign for better road safety, with the aim of reducing the number of pedestrian deaths to zero.

The charity, which has been pushing for safety barriers and reduced speed limits on the A10 north of Cambridge, warns that every year, 40 children are killed as pedestrians on Britain’s roads.

A Cambridgeshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “A thorough investigation into the collision which tragically killed Louis Thorold has been carried out and a file has been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

“Unfortunately, due to factors outside our control, we have not been able to interview a driver of one of the vehicles involved and no one has yet been charged in connection. We will continue to work with the Crown Prosecution Service in our efforts to seek justice for Louis and his family following this tragic and extremely sad incident.”