Man charged over death of teenage pedestrians
Liberty Charris, 16, and Ben Corfield, 19, died when a car crashed into a group of pedestrians in Oldbury, near Birmingham, in 2022.
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Your support makes all the difference.A man has been charged in connection with the deaths of two teenage pedestrians killed when a car struck a group of people.
Liberty Charris, 16, and 19-year-old Ben Corfield, both from Dudley, died after a blue Nissan Skyline hit a number of pedestrians who were gathered on the A457 Oldbury Road near the junction with Crystal Drive in Oldbury, near Birmingham, at around 11.30pm on November 20, 2022.
A man and a woman aged in their 20s were also hit and are still recovering from their injuries.
Dhiya Al Maamoury, 55, from Solihull, has been charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, West Midlands Police said.
He is due to appear before Dudley magistrates on February 20.
Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from the Serious Collision Investigation Team at West Midlands Police, said: “Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of Liberty and Ben as they continue to grieve their loss.
“They have been fully updated with this latest development.”
In a tribute released after her death, Liberty’s family said: “Liberty, our beautiful baby girl and sister.
“So loved by her family and friends, they were all so proud of the gorgeous young lady you were becoming.
“With your heart of gold, bright blue eyes and beaming smile, your aim in life was to make everyone happy, with your funny accents and loud laugh.
“From the moment you were born we were all so in love with you, you loved life and had an amazing future ahead of you.
“Our hearts are shattered into pieces. Shine bright up there our beautiful girl.”
In a statement issued by the West Midlands force, Mr Corfield’s family said at the time: “What can we say other than Ben was the light of our lives. He was a larger than life character with a huge heart that was made of gold.
“Nothing will ever heal the massive hole in our lives – our hearts are broken forever.
“We waited so long for Ben to come along and complete our family, and we feel privileged to have had him as our son and brother for the last 19 years.”