Donna Cooper Memorial Garden
In 1997, a memorial garden was erected in the village in memory of Donna Cooper.
Donna Cooper died after being knocked over outside her home in Pelsall Lane, Rushall by a stolen car on 6 January 1993, at the age of 13. The driver, 17-year-old Carl Sherwood from Goscote, who was on bail for another motoring offence at the time, admitted manslaughter and sentenced to seven years detention; he was freed in September 1997 after serving four-and-a-half years. His accomplice Nigel Button, aged 26 and from Blakenall Heath, was found guilty of aggravated vehicle taking and failing to stop after an accident. He received a four-and-a-half year prison sentence which was later reduced by one year on appeal. Rear seat passengers Stuart Rollinson (aged 15 and from Aldridge), David Teale (aged 14 and from Blakenall Heath) and Shaun Brockhouse (aged 13 and from Darlaston) were given two-year supervision orders for aggravated vehicle taking.
After the trial, it was revealed that Sherwood and Button were both on bail after being arrested in connection with a hit-and-run incident in which two men had been injured just weeks before Donna Cooper's death.
The garden was designed between 1997 and 1999, and was commissioned by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, who also maintain it. It was designed by Anuradha Patel, and the metal installations were manufactured by West Midlands Gates & Trailers. The entrance consists of an arched gateway of galvanised steel, painted green. It is 2.5 metres (8 ft) tall and 2.07 metres (7 ft) wide. At the centre of the archway is an owl motif, taken from a design drawn by Donna Cooper shortly before her death. Another feature is a galvanised steel tree, also painted green with a height of 2.34 metres (8 ft). Located throughout the garden are various pine tree stumps, varying in width up to 25 centimetres (10 in) in diameter. The garden itself is 200 metres (656 ft) long and 25 metres (82 ft) wide. The garden was created by Groundwork Black Country and Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.
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