Mother of boy killed by unsecured scaffold board backs Sussex Police safety campaign

The mother of an 11-year-old boy in Sussex who died after being struck by an unsecured scaffold board has again backed a police campaign aimed at improving load safety on the roads.

Harry Dennis was hit by the board after it fell from a van in East Sussex in December 2022. He later died in hospital.

His mother, Maria Dennis, from Hastings, has supported the annual campaign for a third successive year and has continued to share her family’s experience in an effort to prevent similar tragedies.

“The accident happened but it didn’t have to happen,” she said. “It’s through somebody’s laziness really that Harry is no longer here.

“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 in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and National Highways.

The latest operation took place on Tuesday 8 September at the DVSA checkpoint on the northbound A23 at Handcross.

Vehicles including open-bed trucks, lorries and tractors towing trailers were stopped and inspected.

Sussex Police said the operation specifically targeted vehicles which were unroadworthy or carrying insecure loads, although similar checks form part of routine roads policing throughout the year.

PC Barry Freeman, from 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.”

A number of other police forces supported the campaign by carrying out vehicle checks in their own areas.

During the national day of action in 2024, 131 vehicles were stopped and 73.6 per cent were found to have insecure loads.

In 2025, 120 vehicles were stopped across the UK, with 59.2 per cent found to be carrying insecure loads.

PC Freeman added: “In an ideal world, we don’t want to pull anyone over. Our priority is to engage, explain and educate, and only if necessary, enforce.

“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 across the country attending conferences, presentations and workshops as part of her campaign to promote load safety and prevent further deaths.

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.”

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