Driver guilty of causing death of father and son

Dylan John Pounds, 29, has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving

A man has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after a father and his 11-year-old son died when they were hit by a van while walking on a road in Jersey.

Dylan John Pounds, 29, was also found guilty of dangerous driving following the crash on 5 August 2023.

Dean Lowe, 48, and his son Charlie died when they were hit by the van while walking along La Rue de Fauvic in Grouville.

During the trial at Jersey Royal Court, Pounds admitted he had caused the death of the pair by careless driving and failing to stop to report an accident, but not that he had caused their deaths by dangerous driving under the influence of drink or drugs. He is set to be sentenced on 9 December.

'Our beautiful boys'

Det Ch Insp Craig Jackson read out a statement on behalf of the father and son's family.

"It's coming up to 15 months since our whole world fell apart," the statement said.

"As everyone can imagine, it's been an incredibly traumatic time for all the family and friends of Dean and Charlie.

"We would like to thank the Jersey community for all the love and support.

"We won't ever forget it, like we won't ever forget our beautiful boys."

Dean Lowe, 48, and his son Charlie, 11, died when they were hit by the van in August 2023

The Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit described how the Lowe family had gone to the Pembroke Pub for a birthday party on the day of the crash, and that it was "the last occasion they would ever have together as a family".

He told the court the deaths of the father and son were "untimely, unfortunate and completely preventable".

The pair were walking home when Pounds ran into them - two minutes into his journey.

The prosecution told the court Charlie and his dad were "perfectly entitled to be and to feel safe on the road" but that night Pounds had "posed a serious danger to himself and other road users" and that his "denial of the dangerous driving charge is, quite frankly, ridiculous".

'Quite shocking'

During the five-day trial, the court heard Pounds had been drinking at several pubs in Jersey and that he had returned to his van and drove off from the car park at the Pembroke Pub.

Investigations suggested he had been driving at 44mph (70kph), 14mph (22kph) over the speed limit, and had been making a phone call while behind the wheel minutes before the incident.

A forensic collision investigator for the States of Jersey Police said there were no signs of braking at the scene of the crash, and one witness described being taken aback by how much damage there was to the van involved in the crash.

A post-collision inspector who looked over the van said the scale of the damage was “quite shocking” to him.

Amanda Fairnie and her husband Andrew found the bodies of the father and son, tearfully telling the trial they had tried to give them medical attention but that the pair had not been moving when she found them.

Pounds chose not to give evidence at the trial and there were no witnesses for the defence.