Road-sweep lorry death

THE DRIVER of a road-sweeping lorry involved in an accident which left a 10-year-old girl dead and her three sisters injured, was yesterday charged with causing death by dangerous driving. A spokesman for West Midlands Police said that the 51-year-old man, of Brewood in Staffordshire, had been granted bail to appear before Wolverhampton magistrates on 15 April.

Stephanie Popat and her sisters were on their way to get cash to buy Christmas presents on Friday 19 December last year when the accident happened near their family home in Bushbury, Wolverhampton.

Stephanie suffered massive injuries and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. Her sisters, Marie McCormack, 19, and Natalie Popat, 13, suffered head injuries, and three-year-old Selina Shaw was treated for minor grazes and facial injuries.