Boy, three, died after being struck by van in front of his mother and siblings while delivering church leaflets, inquest hears

Published: 12:51, 14 May 2026 | Updated: 12:56, 14 May 2026 A three-year-old boy died after being hit by a van in front of his mother and siblings while the family delivered church leaflets, an inquest has heard.  Gideon Booker was struck by a van on April 11 last year after momentarily stepping away from his family while his mother, Rebecca Booker, had her back turned.  Mrs Booker, who brought the siblings out to deliver leaflets ahead of an Easter Service in Colehill in Dorset, heard a loud bang before her other children shouted and she saw Gideon lying in the road.  At the inquest held in Bournemouth, Mrs Booker said the younger four children were supposed to stay with her while the elder two posted leaflets through people's doors.  Residents recalled hearing a 'horrific scream' at approximately 2pm from one of Gideon's siblings after he was struck by a black Ford transit van.  The tot - who was attended by paramedics and an air ambulance at the scene - suffered complex skull fractures and resuscitation attempts were stopped at 2.40pm.  The driver of the van, who stayed at the scene and called 999, said he was driving slowly as he believed the 30mph road actually had a 20mph limit.  He described slowing to a crawl because other parked cars on the road meant he had to let another car pass by.  Gideon Booker (pictured) died after being hit by a van while out with his mother and siblings delivering church leaflets in the run-up to Easter Gideon (pictured) suffered extensive and complex skull fractures and was unable to be resuscitated However, as he navigated around the parked cars he recalled seeing a 'blonde blur,' before hearing a bang and slamming on his footbrake and handbrake.   Chloe Jenkins, a forensic collision investigator at Dorset Police, calculated the van's maximum speed at full acceleration could have been 22mph. A more reasonable estimate, however, was deemed to be between 11mph and 14mph.  Brendan Allen, the area coroner for Dorset, said the driver had acted appropriately in his awareness and braking, but that there had been insufficient time to stop.  Pathologist Dr Russell Delaney added that Gideon would have been rendered instantly unconscious after the collision and died very quickly, if not instantly. He said there was 'nothing that could have been done by anyone' to save Gideon's life.    Mr Allen concluded Gideon died from a head injury resulting from a road traffic collision.  Gideon was remembered by his mother as a 'kind and affectionate boy,' with a cheeky smile - the 'most perfect child' she and husband, Michael Booker, could have ever asked for. Mrs Booker said: 'He was just about to start preschool a week after the accident, and I had been so looking forward to finding out more about his personality. Flowers have been left in memory of Gideon at the scene of his death 'He was a quiet boy out and about with meeting new people and he was never far from mummy's side. 'But when he was at home with just the family he would be the biggest entertainer.' Mrs Booker added that the loss of Gideon was 'so profound' that words cannot describe it, and that the 'pain gets greater with each passing day'. She said: 'Some days it feels so intense that Mike and I don't know how we are going to get the strength to go on. It's only for our other children that we do.' Mr Booker, an Afghan war veteran, said: 'My Gideon was a cuddly little teddy bear who you just wanted to pick up and cuddle. 'I used to love to play flight with him. He was a proper boys boy who loved the outdoors, mud, diggers and Daddy's tools.  'When Gideon died part of Becs and I died too and we will never be the same again. 'The only thing that keeps us going is that we must live for our other beautiful children and that as Christians, we do believe wholeheartedly that we will be with him in Heaven again.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.