'I was pressing on the brake': Elderly woman maintains story in deadly crash that killed 8-year-old Girl Guide

Petronella McNorgan called it “sheer panic” as she recalled the fatal crash that killed a young girl on Nov. 30, 2021.

Testifying in her own defence Thursday, the 78-year-old retired teacher told the jury that after getting her Honda CRV serviced earlier that day, it was operating normally as she drove around the city.

However, later that night as she headed home to west London after dropping off her grandson, it all changed at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Wonderland Road.

”I noticed the lights were red, I started to hit the brakes but the car didn’t slow down…it made a noise, started to rev up, it began to speed, I kept pressing harder on the brake and it wouldn’t stop,” McNorgan recalled.

She continued, “I had trouble controlling the steering, it felt like it was steering itself, it was accelerating and the brakes weren’t working. I was petrified.”

While on the stand, McNorgan fought back tears and testified, “It took me a few minutes to realize I was in a horrible situation…I saw all those ambulances and I don’t remember anything, it wasn’t registering…I think I may have blacked out.”

Later that night, she spoke with police and family members about what had happened and seemed lost.

“‘How could there be casualties, I didn’t hit anybody?’ My son said to me, ‘You know you hit some children?’ And I said, ‘I don’t remember.’ I was confused I cried. It was so sad,” she testified.

McNorgan told the court she didn’t recall running over a light standard along Riverside Drive until she saw the photo which was entered as an exhibit.

A group of Girl Guides on an outing were walking along Riverside Drive when they were run over on the night in question.

Police charged McNorgan with one count of criminal negligence causing death and seven counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

She has pleaded not guilty.

McNorgan told the jury that the crash has taken a toll on the health of her family, and that months after the incident both she and her husband were diagnosed and treated for cancer.

Under cross-examination from Crown Attorney Artem Orlov, McNorgan was asked if she could have mistaken the brake pedal for the gas seconds before the crash.

“No…anything is possible but I don’t remember touching the accelerator…my car was accelerating but I was pressing on the brake,” she testified.

In her police statement, the court has heard that she told officers that the brake pedal felt like gas pedal. The Crown asked, “You’re still convinced to this day that you were not pressing the gas pedal?”

She responded, “I know with my whole heart that I was on the brake pedal and I was pressing the brake pedal.”

A ban on publication has been placed on identifying any of the young victims involved in the crash.

The trial resumes next week.