Jury hears closing arguments in fatal Girl Guides crash that killed 8 year old

After a group of Girl Guides were run over by a speeding vehicle in west London, Ont., more than two years ago, both the Crown and the defence referred to the case as tragic in their closing arguments on Wednesday.

The driver of the Honda CRV, Petronella McNorgan, 78, was charged by police after an eight-year-old girl was killed and seven others were injured as they walked along Riverside Drive near Wonderland Road on Nov. 30, 2021.

Crown Attorney James Spangenberg told the jury, “This is a case of criminal negligence…this is no accident, accidents are unavoidable.”

He added, “You hear that Mrs. McNorgan reached speeds of 120 kilometres an hour, a child died, others were seriously injured…these were three collisions, it was caused solely by Mrs. McNorgan.”

The Crown told them to look at the evidence from the accused herself.

“She testified that she stepped on the brake but it wasn’t the brake it was the gas, she claimed that the car went wild on her, it became a zombie car,” he said.

Before wrapping up Spangenberg said, “This was a case of driver error, a case of pedal misapplication. Mrs. McNorgan hit the gas rather than the brake.”

McNorgan has pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing death and seven counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Earlier in the day in his closing arguments, defence lawyer Phil Millar told the jury that no crime was committed by McNorgan.

“There’s no criminal intent here, this was an accident,” he said. “She’s a good driver who made a mistake…she said her brakes didn’t work.”

When referring to the crash itself Millar said, “She was gripping that steering wheel and was trying to drive that car to safety.”

Calling the case soul and gut-wrenching, Millar told the jury, “This is the first time Roni [McNorgan] has ever been in a situation like this…the brain can freeze, everybody has frozen in an emergency.”

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

Justice Pamela Hebner is expected to wrap up her charge to the jury on Thursday before they adjourn to deliberate a verdict.