A change of heart

THE MOTHER of a driver who caused the death of his friend and an 85-year-old woman in 2006 has asked the DOE to abandon a road safety advert in which she took part.

Paula Ellis, whose son Mark was jailed for five and a half years in 2008 for causing the deaths of 18-year-old Adam Montague and Margaret Chivers through dangerous driving, says she does not want to cause any more pain to bereaved loved ones. Her statement comes just a day after Adam Montague's family met with DOE and advertising chiefs with objections to the road safety advert which focused on the impact the crash had on Ms Ellis' son's life. Adam's aunt Ruth O'Hara told the Sentinel the family would have been forced to relive "horrendous memories" of the accident if the commercial had have been aired, and spoke about the gap left in the families lives since her nephew's death. In a statement issued yesterday afternoon (Tuesday), Paul Ellis said she only agreed to take part in the campaign was to raise awareness and "save lives" on Northern Ireland's roads.

"Before Christmas I agreed to take part in a new road safety campaign for DOE called 'Crashed Lives'. As the mother of a son who is in prison for causing death by dangerous driving, my only objective was to help save lives by telling my story.

"I had felt that people needed to know that, if you make a wrong decision like my son did, if you're speeding, what an enormous mess you leave by ruining the victims' lives, all their families' lives as well as your own life.

"In the last few days it has become clear that my appeal was causing distress to the families who have suffered so much from my son's wrong-doing on the road. This is the last thing I ever wanted to happen so I have decided to ask DOE not to broadcast my message even though it was heartfelt and genuine."

Ms Ellis added that she is "haunted everyday" by the devastation of both families and that she did not want to "add any further" to their pain.

She concluded: "Finally, as a mother, my plea to every young driver in the country is, every decision you make on the road can destroy lives, like my son's did. Please listen to me."

Speaking on behalf of Adam's entire family, Ruth said they were thankful to Ms Ellis and the DOE who "listened sympathetically" to their objections.

"We have got what we wanted and we are just glad that we will not have to go through the pain of watching that advert on television."

Speaking to the Sentinel on Monday after a meeting with government representatives on banning the ad, Ruth spoke of the daily battle Adam's mum Glenda had after his death ten days after the crash in August 2006.

Ruth said: "The last few years have been extremely difficult for the family as we have had to deal with Adam's death, then endless court cases then an appeal. We thought that somehow this year would be a bit easier until Adam's mum Glenda was handed a letter telling her this advertisement was going to be aired in the next few weeks."

"Glenda is suffering, our whole family is suffering. It is a daily battle which is not being helped by this."

"We fully support the Government in their road safety campaign but we just don't think that Ms Ellis is the one to help them put this out. Her son put us through grief and we just could not go through that again. Monday was Glenda's birthday and she feels Adam's absence is much stronger on special days like that, so having to deal with this as well just makes it much worse."

Prior to the release of Ms Ellis' statement the DOE had confirmed that they were reconsidering the advert after the meeting with Adam's family on Monday.

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