A grieving mother has accused her ex-partner of ‘failing to take any accountability’ after he was jailed for killing their three-year-old son by reversing a defective farm vehicle over him.
Albie Speakman died after suffering catastrophic injuries from being run over by a telehandler which his father Neil Speakman, 39, was driving in Bury, Greater Manchester, on July 16 2022.
The toddler had been left to play on his own in an unsecured garden area at the front of the farmhouse in Bentley Hall Road, Walshaw, near where his father was operating the vehicle, which was missing a wing mirror, in a yard.
Albie’s mother, Leah Bridge, had dropped their son off at the farm on the day of the tragedy for a regular weekend visit with his father whom she had separated from shortly after giving birth.
Speakman was initially cleared of gross negligence manslaughter by a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on February 4.
However, on the first day of the trial, he pleaded guilty to an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to ensure the required care of his son.
On Friday, Speakman was handed a one-year jail sentence, with half to be served in custody and the remainder on licence.
Sharing a newspaper report covering the death of her son on Facebook, heartbroken Ms Bridge hit out at her ex-partner, writing: ‘Read the whole article and tell me this man has taken any accountability for what he did to my little boy!
‘He took his life, that can’t be undone. Albie has gone forever, and he gets away with a mere 6 months in a cell. Tell me where the justice is?’
Toddler Albie Speakman, who died aged three when he was run over by a defective farm vehicle, with his mother Leah Bridge
Neil Speakman (pictured), 39, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after killing his three-year-old son, Albie, when he hit him with a faulty telehandler vehicle
The telehandler (pictured) which was being driven by Speakman when he hit and killed Albie can be seen with a missing wingmirror on the passenger side
Grieving mother Leah Bridge, 31, stands next to the grave of her three-year-old son
Ms Bridge previously told Manchester Evening News about her unimaginable pain at the tragedy.
After Speakman was cleared of gross negligence manslaughter, she said: ‘It feels like I’ve stood still in time and I don’t go anywhere. I don’t move forward in my mind.
‘Was he scared?’ I don’t know because I wasn’t there.’
Ms Bridge revealed she has since welcomed another son, named Ebon, but said her joy has been dampened by heartache as she initially struggled to look at her baby – fearing he would look like Albie.
‘I didn’t look at him for ages,’ the mother said. ‘I didn’t know what he was going to look like… if he was going to look like Albie.’
Ebon’s middle name is Albie, in memory of his sibling. It’s one of many constant reminders the mother has of her ‘sunshine boy’. To this day, she carries one of his jumpers with her wherever she goes. It was taken from the wash basket after he died.
Ms Bridge relives the day she lost him over and over. She couldn’t bring herself to tidy up the bowl of cornflakes he had eaten the morning of his death. It stayed where it was for months.
Speakman sobbed in the dock after he was found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter after five hours of deliberations.
As the verdict was read, he turned to his new girlfriend Millie Barrack – who he began a relationship with after splitting from Albie’s mother – and said ‘I told you’.
Although tearful, Speakman also appeared to perform a double fist-pump while still sat in the dock.
But just weeks later he was jailed for health and safety offences.
Sentencing him to 12 months in prison, Justice Judge Charles Bourne KC told Speakman: ‘To state the obvious it was a terrible tragedy for the child, for you and for Ms Bridge and the other family members.
‘You have got to face up to the responsibility of that.
Albie Speakman (pictured), 3, was playing in an unsecured garden area near where his father was operating the vehicle in a yard
‘What happened on July 16, 2022, was not bad luck.
‘It was an entire failure to look after Albie and keep him safe.
‘It was not appropriate for you to work. Caring came first.
‘There were three adults at the farm that day so there was nothing difficult in keeping him safe.’
Speakman had borrowed the Kramer telehandler from a neighbour and was using it to move woodchips into bags when Albie wandered into the nearby yard.
The judge told him: ‘The risk of harm was created by a combination of factors.
The toddler’s mother, Leah Bridge (pictured), had dropped Albie off at the farm on the day of the tragedy for a regular weekend visit with his father who she separated from shortly after giving birth
Albie had wandered into the yard where his father was operating a defective Kramer telehandler to move woodchips into bags
Speakman was seen leaving Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court last month after being cleared of gross negligence manslaughter
‘While Albie was in your care you were using the telehandler – having had no training – instead of looking after him and he was in an area close by with no protection.
‘Visibility to the rear of the telehandler was compromised. One of the wing mirrors was missing, one was dirty, and the vehicle made no warning sound when reversing.
‘I am sure that your acts and omissions that day created a risk of harm that day, including death.’
Judge Bourne said he acknowledged Albie’s death had had a ‘very profound impact’ on the defendant and that he had since taken steps to make the farm a ‘much safer place’ for the two young children he has with his current partner.
But he said the appropriate sentence could only be achieved by immediate custody for the ‘appalling consequences’ for Albie and Ms Bridge.
The three-year-old is now buried at Radcliffe Cemetery following his death in July 2022
Ms Bridge told the court her life would be ‘forever broken’ after losing her son
He added: ‘It is important for those in the farming profession to know that offences of this kind will attract strict legal consequences as well as personal consequences.’
Speakman has numerous previous convictions for unrelated offences involving violence and public order, and had previously received two suspended jail terms, including one for dangerous driving in 2009.
Judge Bourne said that compensation should be dealt with in civil court, with Speakman now paying a contribution to prosecution costs of £2,000 at a rate of £80 a month.
Ms Bridge paid tribute to her son which left Speakman in tears as she told how her life is now changed forever.
Her statement to court said: ‘You are only three and you had such a beautiful life ahead of you, you had so many things left to do and see.
‘It absolutely breaks me to think that you have had to be brave enough to experience something as harrowing as death at three-years old.
‘It puts into perspective how close I am to death, and I no longer fear it. Before Albie was killed – I have never thought about death, but now it’s all I think about, and I am not scared of dying anymore.
‘To everyone that hears this – Albie is just a name, but to me Albie was my reason to live, Albie was the voice who said “mummy, I love you”, Albie was the person I shared my life with, Albie is a brother, a grandson, a friend at nursery.
‘Albie is everything to me and now he is not here because of someone else’s actions.
‘Albie, you are my everything boy and I am your everything girl. The only thing that keeps me going is thinking that every new day is one day closer to me seeing you again.
‘I love you endlessly my sunshine boy.’