Two children killed crossing M56

Oct 25 2007 Liverpool Echo

THE father of a boy killed on a motorway today spoke of his desperate attempts to find his son after he went missing with a friend.

Kieran Coupe, seven, (pictured), and his friend Guy, six, both died when they were hit by three cars as they crossed the M56 at Preston Brook, near Runcorn, Cheshire, at around 7.20pm last night.

Kieran’s father Colin Lambert had gone out looking for his son when he failed to come home for his tea.

He said he had previously told his son not to go anywhere near the motorway.

Speaking to reporters outside his home in the Murdishaw area of Runcorn, he said: "I don’t know how I feel. I was very hysterical yesterday. The doctor’s called to see me yesterday and gave me medication. They’ve suggested I have counselling.

"I last saw Kieran yesterday afternoon. He had his friends round and they wanted to put face paints on me.

"They went out to play and Kieran was due back in the house at 5pm for his tea.

"I waited out 40 minutes and he hadn’t returned so my brother and I went out to find him.

"Kieran would not wander off into the woods, he wasn’t a wanderer.

"He had been warned not to go down to the motorway, my sister lives by the motorway and he had been told not to go past her house."

Kieran has one brother and three half sisters and used to live in Nottinghamshire with his mother.

Cheshire Police said the boys were carrying push-scooters across the Chester-bound carriageway when they were struck by the cars.

Officers have said three saloon cars were involved in the tragedy.

The children were pronounced dead at the scene. Nobody else was injured.

The pair lived on the same street, Blyth Close.

Neighbours said today they had gone missing yesterday evening and police were already searching for them when the alarm was raised about the motorway crash.

Paula Taylor, 41, who lives close to Guy, said: "They were just ordinary little boys, always playing in the street and kicking a football about.

"I heard yesterday afternoon that they had gone missing and police were around helping the families look for them.

"Then we heard the news about the crash on the motorway.

"It is awful, just awful."

It is thought the boys were playing in woods at the rear of the Murdishaw estate which leads to the M56.

Mrs Taylor, a mother of two, added: "There is no barrier to stop kids getting on to the motorway, they just have to climb down a bank and they are on it.

"I tell my kids never to go in the woods but boys are boys and it must have been an adventure for them."

Kieron, lives with his father Colin and grandmother Joan.

Guy lives with his parents nearby. Both boys attend Murdishaw Primary School.

A spokeswoman for Cheshire Police said: "Formal identification has not yet taken place.

"Next of kin have been informed.

"A number of witnesses to his incident have come forward and are quite distressed.

"We are still appealing for motorists who may have seen what happened to get in touch with our Motorway Unit."

Anyone with information should call 0845 458 000.