Death driver charged

AN 18-year-old man has appeared in court charged with causing the death of Moorside teenager Christopher Dale, who would have been 16 today.

Danny Lee Pattinson, of Trows Lane, Rochdale, appeared before Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

His trial has been fixed to start on September 6 and he will next appear on July 5 for a plea and case management hearing.

Christopher, from Bramble Avenue, died after being hit by a Mini Cooper on June 13, 2009, as he crossed Lees Road at 10.15pm.

The Year 10 pupil at Blue Coat School had been expected to achieve A*s in his GCSEs.

Today, on what would have been his 16th birthday, his family remembered their ‘precious boy’ with love in the Chronicle’s family notices section.