Antonio Boparan, son of business tycoon Ranjit Boparan, has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, 12 years after a crash that led to a young girl’s death.
In 2006, the then 22-year-old Boparan was driving his 2.5 tonne Range Rover at 70 mph in a suburban street in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, when he smashed into the car of the family of Cerys Edwards.
Cerys, who had just turned one, was left brain-damaged and had to spend the rest of her life in a ventilator. She passed away in 2015 at Birmingham Children’s Hospital after contacting a virus.
Boparan, heir to the £800 million 2 Sisters Food Group fortune, was convicted of dangerous driving and sentenced to 21 months in prison. He served only six months.
His short sentence led to campaigners successfully getting a change in law which meant anyone convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving could be jailed for up to five years.
A summons has now been served for Boparan to appear in court next month after a post-mortem found Cerys had died 'as a result of the collision'.
Cerys was was thrown from her baby seat and broke her spine in the crash, leaving her paralysed and requiring round-the-clock care.
Cerys’s father Gareth said: "Cerys was left on a ventilator after the crash, she caught a virus and that has killed her. She wouldn't have been in that position if it wasn't for the crash
"I promised Cerys justice and that's hopefully what we are going to get. This has been going on for 12 years and we have never had closure.
"The police have been fantastic and have worked their socks off on this case and I would like to thank them for keeping at it, even though it has taken so long."
Gareth added that he felt Boparan had shown no remorse for what he had done.
Boparan, who is now 31 and married with two children, setup a trust for disadvantaged children after his release from prison. His father also donated £200,000 towards Cerys’s care.
A spokesman for Mr Boparan said: 'Antonio is unaware of any official notification and therefore it would not be appropriate to comment at this stage.'
Michael Gove
Jeremy Hunt
