No brake signs at fatal crash scene - investigator

Dylan Pounds is standing trial over the deaths of Dean and Charlie Lowe

There were no signs of braking at the scene of a crash which killed a father and son, a court has heard.

Dean Lowe, 48, and his son Charlie, 11, died after being hit by a vehicle on La Rue de Fauvic in Grouville on 5 August last year.

Dylan Pounds, 29, has admitted causing death by careless driving and failing to stop and report an accident but denies two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and another of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs.

Rob Manners, a forensic collision investigator for States of Jersey Police, told the Royal Court he investigated the crash site the day after the collision and was unable to identify any tyre or braking marks.

Dean and Charlie Lowe were killed after being hit by a van on 5 August 2023

Mr Manners gave details about his investigation at the scene of the crash which he carried out at 06:20 BST on 6 August 2023.

He said the scene was "not consistent" with braking and he would have expected to see something to suggest a vehicle had "significantly reduced" its speed.

Mr Manners added he was present for an inspection of the van involved in the incident which had a hole in its windscreen.

He said he interpreted the damage to be the result of a high speed collision but he told the court he had never seen that before in any similar incident.

Due to the damage to the windscreen, Mr Manners told the court it was not possible to estimate the speed at which the van was travelling at the time of impact.

He said there was no evidence of contact with the roof of the van which he would have expected if there had been significant braking.

Prosecutors said Dylan Pounds drove away from the Pembroke pub at about 21:35 BST on the day of the crash

Prosecutors at the trial, which started on Monday, said Mr Pounds had been drinking at a number of pubs on the day of the crash.

They said Mr Pounds left the Dolphin Hotel at about 21:20 BST and got a bus back to the Pembroke pub, where his van was parked.

Mr Pounds - who had also been drinking at the Union Inn earlier on that day - drove off from the Pembroke at about 21:35 BST, about 10 minutes before the fatal crash, prosecutors said.