UPDATED; Can you help me find out my sons final moments.

Hello, my name is Edwina, Darryl's mummy. The photograph is of Darryl and his little brother Jack. My reason for setting up this GoFundMe page is that i lost my precious and beautiful son Darryl aged 22yrs in the most horrific and tragic circumstances on the M1 motorway between Dungannon and Tamnamore on the 10th of November 2018. He was a backseat passenger in a car returning home along with three others, from a car drifting event at the Tullyroan Oval at Tamnnamore. During the journey some sort of “altercation” broke out in the back seat of the vehicle, which resulted in the driver pulling onto the hard shoulder, where everyone exited the vehicle and the “altercation” continued, Darryl was then hit by an oncoming vehicle traveling westbound, which resulted in his devastating and untimely death. Due to the dishonesty and the false information provided to the PSNI by the main witnesses, the circumstances surrounding Darryl's death are still very unclear.

This has left us, Darryl’s family depending very much on his inquest to try and get some or any answers as to what actually took place that evening and the actual cause of his death.

After an agonizing six years of waiting and five preliminary hearings, I have finally received a date for his inquest, which is due to take place in February 2025. I have waited for such a long time for a date that it has really taken its toll on both my mental and physical health.

Then in recent months i was informed that I was responsible for a legal bill of costs, that i knew nothing about, it left me feeling sick I was just horrified and I still am, that legally I am solely responsible for the expenses associated with Darryl's inquest. I never knew I was going to get this bill and was horrified and tearful. The inquest is set to last for two full days at present but their is no guarantee that it will not run on longer than expected The bill for the two days in the coroners court Belfast is currently £10,060 and i have 14 days of the inquest date to have it paid. I have only been made aware of the legal bill in recent months and to be completely honest I am both horrified, disgusted and angry.

I sought legal advice and applied for legal aid and received a reply in mid-November that my application was refused, stating no legal aid funding for the hearing.

However, I am eligible for advice and assistance with respect to the preparation of the case before the hearing, which is to help with the cost of e-mails, telephone calls, and letters in respect of the hearing.

Legal aid does not fund a coroner's court only in very exceptional circumstances, they proceeded to give their reason as, “their not being a wider public interest”.

I hope and i like to think their would be a large public interest, no parent would/could even want to imagine this or anything happening to their child.

Darryl was one of the kindest, loving and loveable, friendly true character's you could meet always smiling and pleasant, he drew people to him because of his fun loving character he was a very popular lad and was so honest and was always ready to lend a hand weather he knew you or not he loved life so much, he trusted everyone and believed everyone deserved a second chance, which i firmly believe contributed to his untimely death.

Asking for help does not come easy to me, and i suppose no one really knows when they might find themselves in some sort of situation were they too might have no other choice but to set up a funding page. I have been pondering with myself while seeking advice from friends for months as to do this or not, like a lot of other people, I just live month to month.

I strongly believe that it is every parent's right to know why, what happened, and what led to their child's death no matter the circumstances, but to have to pay to get those answers has left me dumbfounded, It disgusts me to my very core that any parent or parents should be left with a legal bill of costs in the aftermath of losing their child. Unfortunately, as some may know Darryl’s dad had a very untimely tragic death when Darryl was just ten years old.

I had never heard of a parent getting a legal bill in respect of their child's inquest and can’t even find the words for how this makes me feel.

I need to know what happened to my son to be able to grieve him properly and maybe even find some sort of closure, whatever that is.It is with a heavy heart that i am reaching out to all of you family, friends, acquaintances and caring, kind strangers in helping me to find out what happened in Darryl's final moments. I understand the financial pressure we are all under, but i really do need your help.

Your help could make such a meaningful difference and i am truly grateful, for sharing my story and raising much needed awareness of the horrifying injustice that comes in some circumstances of child loss that would be great too.

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart for reading my story and for even considering my request.

Edwina – Darryl’s Mummy x

Forever loved and sorely missed today and every day pet xx