Mum of Hastings boy, 11, who died following collision near Bexhill, backs annual road safety operation
The mother of a Hastings boy, who was killed by an unsecured scaffold board has lent her support to an annual police road safety operation once again, police said.
Eleven-year-old Harry Dennis was struck by the board which fell from a van near Bexhill in December 2022, and later died in hospital, police said.
Sussex Police said Maria Dennis, from Hastings, has shared her story while supporting the police campaign to keep vehicles safe for a third successive year.
Maria said: "The accident happened but it didn’t have to happen.
“I need to share that message to make sure people, when they are going on the road, take that extra time to make sure their load is secure, so it doesn’t happen again.
“We lost Harry through something that was preventable. I need to be his voice, shouting for him.”
Operation Rule was led by Sussex Police’s Commercial Vehicle Unit, working in partnership with the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and National Highways.
Police said it took place on Tuesday (September 8) at the DVSA check point on the A23 northbound at Handcross, where vehicles including open-bed trucks, lorries and tractors carrying trailers were pulled over for inspection.
PC Barry Freeman of the Commercial Vehicle Unit, who ran the operation, said: “This operation has come about as a result of a very tragic set of circumstances. In 2022, 11-year-old Harry Dennis was killed after he was struck by an unsecured scaffold board which fell from a van in Hooe, East Sussex.
“His mother Maria approached us and asked if she could get involved in any way to help prevent incidents like this happening to anyone else, and she is the inspiration behind this really.”
Police said on the day of action in 2024, 131 vehicles were stopped nationally and of these, 73.6 percent were found to have insecure loads.
In 2025, 120 vehicles were stopped across the UK and 59.2 per cent had insecure loads.
PC Freeman said: “We want motorists to take personal responsibility to ensure the load they are carrying is safe and secure, before they set off on their journey. Those who load vehicles or trailers must also play a part.
“This should come as second nature – much like putting on your seatbelt every time you get in your vehicle – and should only take a matter of minutes. Those vital few minutes could be the difference in preventing death and serious injury on our roads.
“Nobody goes to work to intentionally harm or kill someone. However, the reality is, unless you ensure the loads you carry are safe, you put yourself and others at risk both during your journey and when unloading.”
Maria has travelled the length of the country to attend numerous conferences, presentations and workshops as she seeks to campaign for change and promote load safety.
She added: “On top of any financial penalty or prison sentence, you need to live with that every day for the rest of your life, that you’ve killed somebody. All the things they (the victim) had to look forward to and the difference they were going to make to other people’s lives, that’s now ended, none of it is going to happen.”