THERE was weeping in the Royal Court as a man who mowed down a father and son in a hit-and-run collision was convicted of causing their deaths by dangerous driving following a six-day trial.
Van driver Dylan John Pounds killed 48-year-old father Dean Lowe and his 11-year-old son Charlie in a collision in Rue de Fauvic on the evening of 5 August last year.
Several people sitting in the public gallery of the Royal Court were in tears yesterday afternoon as Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae announced that Pounds (29) was guilty of both counts.
Pounds (pictured above) admitted causing their deaths by careless driving, and also admitted failing to stop and report an accident, but he denied the more serious charges of causing the deaths by dangerous driving, which can carry a much longer jail term.
However, over the course of the trial prosecutors successfully argued that Pounds had been drinking heavily all afternoon before getting behind the wheel of his van that night, was speeding and had been distracted by a mobile phone – so his “plethora of failings” as a driver represented dangerous driving and not just carelessness.
Pounds and his friend Callum Best had begun drinking in the Union Inn on Grande Route de St Jean at around midday that day before moving to the Pembroke pub in Grouville.
Mr Lowe and his son (pictured above) were attending a family birthday party in the same venue – and CCTV footage from inside shows Mr Lowe and Charlie in the background while Pounds is at the bar buying beer.
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit, prosecuting, commented: “They wouldn’t have known that two hours later the same man would be responsible for ending their lives.”
The trial heard from Mr Best as well as from Sarah Blake, who had given the pair a lift from the Pembroke pub to the Dolphin Hotel in Gorey earlier that night and told the court that Pounds appeared very drunk there and unfit to drive.
Pounds and Mr Best boarded a bus back to St Helier but Pounds had got off and picked up his van to drive the rest of the way – despite having drunk at least nine pints of lager.
The trial also heard from a UK Home Office pathologist and collision experts.
CCTV footage showed a van travelling westbound along Rue de Fauvic at 9.40pm that night at a speed of between 41mph and 43mph, where the speed limit is 30mph.
Announcing the Jurats’ verdict, the Deputy Bailiff told Pounds: “Had you kept to the speed limit and kept a proper lookout you would have seen and avoided Dean and Charlie Lowe. Many other motorists were able to see them and had no difficulty in avoiding them.”
He added: “You must have known instantly that you had been involved in an accident owing to the damage to your vehicle, and being showered in glass from your fractured windscreen.
“Any competent and careful driver would have stopped their vehicle immediately. You failed to stop.”
In a statement given to the press and public on the steps of the Royal Court following the conviction, Inspector David Turnbull said: “Our deepest condolences are and always will be with the family and friends of Dean and Charlie Lowe, whose tragic deaths last August have left an indelible mark on our Island community.
“We are grateful for the decision of the court today. This investigation has been very challenging and thorough. I am grateful to officers and staff who have worked tirelessly with our colleagues in the Law Officers’ Department to deliver today’s verdict.”
He added: “This verdict serves as a reminder of the responsibility we all carry on our roads and the grave consequences of failing to meet those responsibilities.”
Pounds was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in the Royal Court on 9 December. The Jurats sitting were Jane Ronge and Karen Le Cornu.
