A WOMAN wept in court as she recalled finding a father and son lying in the road following a fatal hit and run.
Amanda Fairnie was giving evidence on the third day of the trial of 29-year-old Dylan John Pounds.
Mr Pounds killed 48-year-old father Dean Lowe and his 11-year-old son Charlie in a hit-and-run collision in Rue de Fauvic on the evening of 5 August last year.
He has admitted causing the deaths by careless driving. But prosecutors allege that he is guilty of the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
He has also admitted failing to stop and report an accident.
Speaking to the Royal Court by video link, Ms Fairnie said she had been driving along Rue de Fauvic with her husband on the night in question, and had to brake when she saw an obstacle in the road.
She said: “I jumped out of the car and ran straight over.”
She sobbed as she added: “Charlie was lying face-down on the road. I tried to see if he was breathing.”
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, prosecuting, asked her: “Did he respond in any way?”
She said: “No.”
Ms Fairnie said she then noticed Mr Lowe’s body, lying in a similar position, a little further up the road. He was also unresponsive.
She said: “I tried to call the emergency services. It took me a couple of attempts because I was shaking.”
The court also heard from Dr Russell Delaney, a forensic pathologist with the UK Home Office, who came to Jersey to examine the bodies of Mr Lowe and Charlie.
He said both had suffered fractured skulls and leg fractures, as well as multiple cuts and abrasions.
Of Mr Lowe’s injuries, he said: “These are injuries that are not survivable with any form of medical intervention.”
And of Charlie, he added: “He would have been instantly unconscious. Again, they are not injuries that you would have expected him to survive. I think he would have died quickly.”
He concluded: “They are entirely in keeping with a road traffic collision.”
Mr Pounds drove home after the incident, the court heard. Photographs of his badly damaged work van were shown in court, revealing large dents to the front and a shattered windscreen with a large hole in it.
Chris Hopkins, a vehicle examiner with Driver and Vehicle Standards who checked the van afterwards, said: “You couldn’t see out from the driver’s side at all, because of the opaque obstruction of the broken glass. It greatly reduced the driver’s visibility.”
Asked by Advocate Maletroit whether the van was unfit to be on the roads, he replied: “It goes beyond that. Any other road user would have been at risk of being cut or injured by that van being on the road at all.”
The trial is expected to conclude next week. Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae is presiding and Jurats Jane Ronge and Karen Le Cornu are sitting.
