The area where a toddler was killed in a hit-and-run involving a stolen Porsche is plagued by boy racers, residents have said.
The two-year-old boy died after two cars crashed in the town of Smethwick, in the West Midlands, just before 11pm on Saturday.
Following the collision, four adults and the child were taken to hospital, where medics were unable to save the boy’s life.
West Midlands Police are hunting for a driver who fled the scene in a grey Porsche Cayenne, which they later discovered was stolen.
A force spokesman said a 29-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man remained in a “serious condition” in hospital.
A woman aged 30 has been discharged from hospital and a second man, also aged 30, is continuing to receive treatment, they added.
It comes following a Birmingham and Black Country-wide ban on street racing and car cruising, which was issued by the High Court in February.
Following Saturday’s crash, residents said boy racers had been an ongoing problem in the area.
Over the past 18 months, during which time an interim order against street racing was also in place, 36 arrests were made – 90 per cent of which resulted in convictions. Offending motorists faced suspended prison sentences and fines of up to £2,200.
‘Very organised’
However, security consultant Russell George, 53, who lives in flats close to the scene, said that while he was “devastated” by Saturday’s crash, he had also been expecting an incident of this kind “for a while”.
He said: He said: “[It’s] dreadful what’s happened. When I came back on Saturday night I could see the road was blocked off. I had already called the police half an hour before [because] I had seen people racing around.
“It’s really, really sad that it involved a small child.”
Mr George added that sometimes racing in the area had been “really bad”, and he had seen smoke in the air from burnouts.
He said: “People turn up at the side of the road to watch. Sometimes they bring kids with them as well. I’ve been contacting police and councillors and so on. Most people just ignore it, they don’t think it’s a problem.
“I’ve tried to talk to them as well and explain that they’re in a residential area. It’s usually between 10pm and 12am – they move around when police get them. They’re very organised, they pick a time of day when they know they can’t react.”
Police tape at the scene of Saturday’s hit-and-run – Naomi DeSouza/BPM Media
Three boy racers were recently handed suspended prison sentences for breaching the injunction after clocking speeds of 70mph on a 40mph road near the site of Saturday’s crash.
Omar Tagon, 25, was arrested in October and later admitted to speeding at around 70mph in a 40mph zone while racing a car and undertaking other vehicles. He was ordered to pay £3,200 in court costs.
In November, Ty Harris, 19, and Vivkash Bali, 28, admitted breaching the injunction by racing each other at 70mph on Black Country New Road. They were both handed suspended sentences, on the condition they abided by the ban, and were ordered to pay £588 in costs.
Two men and a woman who organised illegal street racing in the region were also handed lengthy jail sentences.
‘Untold misery’
Speaking earlier this month, Ch Insp Keeley Bevington, from West Midlands Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said: “Street racing causes untold misery and danger to other motorists and people living in the area.
“With so much understandable concern about the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on the roads, it beggars belief that some people still think it’s acceptable to drive in this way.”
Her comments were echoed by Cllr Suzanne Hartwell, Sandwell council’s deputy leader, who said: “This very dangerous and anti-social behaviour must stop.”
Sarah Coombes, the Labour MP for West Bromwich, also condemned “selfish people [who] race their cars up and down” during comments in the Commons last month.
She added: “This has been going on for years and years, despite the efforts of Sandwell council and the West Midlands Police.”
A West Midlands Police spokesman said: “Our officers are offering support to all those involved at this awful time.
“We continue to urge the driver of a suspected stolen Porsche Cayenne, believed to be involved, to come forward.”