Man admits killing 12-year-old boy in hit-and-run outside Essex school

A man has admitted killing a 12-year-old boy who died following a hit-and-run outside his school in Essex.

Harley Watson died at Whipps Cross University Hospital in east London after a vehicle ploughed into children who were leaving Debden Park High School in Loughton on December 2 last year.

Terence Glover, 52, previously of Newmans Lane, Loughton, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility when he appeared by videolink at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday.

He pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, which prosecutor Christine Agnew said the crown accepted and will deal with when the defendant returns for sentencing.

He also pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder of 23-year-old Raquel Jimeno and six boys and three girls aged between 12 and 16, who cannot be named due to a court order.

Glover, who is being held at a mental health facility, also admitted driving a Ford Ka dangerously in Willingale Road, Loughton.

Miss Agnew said the defendant had “suffered an abnormality of the mind” at the time of the incident.

“That decision has been explained at length to the parents of Harley Watson,” she said.

Harley’s mother, who attended court with her partner, sat in the public gallery and wept as Glover gave his pleas to the charges.

In the short hearing which lasted around 15 minutes, Miss Agnew said two psychiatrists will give evidence to the court at sentencing on January 8.