A MAN has appeared in court for the first time following the death of a two-year-old girl in a car crash.

Scarlett Knight, of Wimborne, died following a single-vehicle collision on the B3078 Cranborne Road on Sunday, May 31 this year.

She was one of three children and two adults travelling in a blue MG car when the vehicle left the road, collided with a wall and overturned.

A nine-year-old boy also suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash, while an 11-year-old from Corfe Mullen suffered bruising.

Yesterday, Matthew Atwood, of Commercial Road in Poole, appeared at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court charged with a single count of causing death by driving without due care and attention.

The defendant, 29, did not enter a plea to the charge against him.

He is due to appear at Bournemouth Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on November 2, and is on unconditional bail.