THE mum of a schoolgirl killed in a hit-and-run 20-years-ago knows who’s responsible and demands the cowards finally come forward to face justice.
Gemma Rolfe, 12, was going to Girl Guides with her step dad when a stolen Austin Maestro van driven by four drunk and drugged-up youths smashed into them.
The impact flipped their Suzuki Vitara onto it’s roof before the pair – hanging by their seatbelts – were struck by a BMW, killing Gemma and leaving Dean Robey seriously injured.
Police tracked the youths down but none admitted to being the driver – with a lack of DNA, no-one was ever charged and the killers walked free.
Speaking from her home in Erith, Kent, Gemma’s mum Janet Robey, 56, told The Sun: “I know all their names, they were local lads.
“I go to the gym across the road, they could be in there and I wouldn’t know as they’re in their forties now. They might have kids of their own, they would know me.
“My whole family have had a prison sentence for twenty years, we will always suffer, they’re living their lives but our lives stopped, why is it us suffering?
“They have just got to say ‘it was me, I did it, I’m sorry’. I don’t think it will ever happen.
“I doubt it even crosses their mind, it’s in mine 24/7, I don’t even know if they’ve got a conscience.”
Gemma was a star pupil at Erith School who, at 5’6″, was a larger than life character.
Remembering “cheeky monkey” Gemma, Janet said: “She was very headstrong, very independent, very clever, totally fearless.
“Gemma would earn money to pay for a Mothers’ Day present – she was only nine.”
The evening of May 19, 2003, Janet’s family were running late for Guides.
Janet recalled: “Gemma had cheese, ham and pineapple pizza for her tea, I can still see what she was wearing, what I was wearing.
“Every day when my kids walked out the door I’d tell them I loved them, that one day I didn’t do that.
“She ran out the door and said see you later, mum.”
Shortly after 7.15pm, the mum-of-two heard sirens: “My phone rang, someone said Gemma and Dean had been in an accident.
“It felt like I was going in slow motion, I got to the end of the road and police had taped it off, I got out the car and was running.”
Janet was hauled into a house where a rapid responder revealed every parents’ worst nightmare: Gemma had been killed.
“I just screamed, my phone was ringing, it was my twin brother Richard, someone else picked up, he could hear me”, the mum recalls.
The youths ran from the scene as Gemma’s body was cut from the wreckage while Dean – who had broken four ribs and a collarbone on his left side – was rushed to hospital in a serious condition.
Janet adds: “I remember telling Dean Gemma had died, he just screamed and screamed.
“Dean’s last memory of the accident would have been Gemma’s, myself and my son were not in the car with her, we can’t see what Dean was going through.”
Gemma’s brother Kye, then 18, later moved away, he has gone on to have a daughter named after his sister.
I remember telling Dean Gemma had died, he just screamed and screamed
Janet Robey
Scrap and picture books of Gemma fill Janet’s home, many include tributes received in the days and weeks after her death.
They remember a daughter who was a “good listener” and “made people laugh”.
But among the pages is a haunting poem called ‘Think’ which Gemma wrote about gun crime aged just nine, the last paragraph reads: “The man with the gun, the one who committed the crime.
“Police were too late he’d gone just in time, he will never realise just what he’s done.”
“It’s what happened to Gemma, it’s like she had written what was going to happen”, Janet says.
The mum-of-two visits the spot where Gemma died at the junction of Canada Road and Slade Green Road in Erith once a year.
She explains: “I can’t go any other time, I go on the 19th May.
“One day I’ll be the only one there but there are still people that come. We let a balloon go and we have a cuddle.”
This Friday marks 20 years since Gemma’s death and broken Janet says she will “not allow” her daughter – who would now be 32 – to be forgotten.
And she told The Sun she has vowed to fight for justice until the cowards admit who was behind the wheel.
Ahead of the anniversary, the Metropolitan Police said their investigation into Gemma’s death remains open, but Janet is not holding out much hope.
“The DNA was spread across the van like a Talc bottle being squeezed, the police could never prove who was in the driving seat at the time”, Janet says.
She finishes: “All four of them should have got banged up, my daughter walked out the door and said ‘see you later mum’, that’s all I’ve got.
“For 20 years I’ve been the strong one that held my family together as long as I could and I’m actually tired now.
“I’m not okay, but that’s okay I’m allowed to be not okay.
“I go through the motions, I feel like I was in that car as well, and I’m in a coma, and my life now until the day I die will be a dream and the day I wake up will be the day I see my daughter.”
Met Police spokesperson told The Sun: “Our thoughts remain with Gemma’s family and friends on the approach to this sad anniversary.
“The investigation remains open and though many years have passed, we remain committed to achieving justice.
“The case was last subject to a review by the Serious Crime Review Group last year and a number of enquiries remain ongoing.”
Anyone who has information that could assist should call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0208 285 1574.
You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
