Woman describes finding crash victims in third day of Jersey Royal Court trial
A husband and wife have described to Jersey Royal Court how they found the bodies of Dean and Charlie Lowe after they were struck by a van in August last year.
It's the third day of the trial against Dylan John Pounds, 29, who denies causing death by dangerous driving, and death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs.
Charlie Lowe, 11, and his father Dean, 48, were killed on La Rue de Fauvic in Grouville on Saturday 5 August 2023.
In May 2024, Pounds pled guilty to causing the deaths of Charlie and Dean Lowe by careless driving and failing to stop and report an accident.
The prosecution continues to examine witnesses today (Wednesday 23 October).
The witnesses
Amanda Fairnie spoke to Jersey's Royal Court via video link.
She described how she and her husband, Andrew, had left a friend's party at the Dolphin Hotel at around 9:30pm on the day of the incident.
Fairnie told the court that she was driving home when her husband told her to stop the car.
She explains: "I put warning lights on, jumped out of the car, went straight over. Charlie, he was lying face down on his front in the road. He wasn’t moving. I tried to see if he was breathing. His head was turned to the left-hand side.
"My husband was dialling 999 and he told me that he would stay with Charlie, as I looked up I saw there was another body on the road, further up the road. I ran to Dean.“I told [Dean] my name and said I would try and help him and I would save him. I got my phone out of my bag to dial the emergency services; I called 999. It took a couple of attempts as I was shaking."
Fairnie told the court that she did not get a response from Dean, but started giving CPR to him until two police officers arrived. She then went back to Charlie Lowe to provide resuscitation efforts.
The second witness of the day, Kyle Stratford, described to the court how he was three miles away picking up a takeaway when what appeared to be the van Pounds was driving went past him.
Stratford told the court: "The front of the car... it looked like something had landed on it and the same with the glass. It was almost dented and fragmented all along the front part.
"I was more taken back than anything seeing the car just because you wouldn’t imagine seeing a car with that damage on the road. I was shocked; I’ve never seen a van in that condition."
Vehicle examiner Chris Hopkins later brought forward his inspection of the vehicle to the Royal Court.
Hopkins said "It's important to say my first view was the front and it was obvious that it sustained significant damage, which was shocking to me. After the impact, it was in a dangerous condition. Any other road user was at risk from this being on the road."
Chris also confirmed that there were no faults with the braking system, and they would have been perfectly efficient if operated correctly.
Analyst Nick Hubbard
In the afternoon, States of Jersey's official analyst Nick Hubbard, who specialises in blood-alcohol analysis, took to the stand.
The day after the incident (Sunday 6 August 2023), Pounds was first breathalysed at 1:09pm, with a blood sample taken at 2:47pm, but no alcohol was detected.
Mr Hubbard was asked by the prosecution to determine how likely Pounds was to be over the legal limit when driving the night before at 9:40pm.
Using the defendant's age, height, weight, and gender as variables, Mr Hubbard provided three statistical estimations that worked out the rate of absorption and elimination of alcohol in Pounds' system.
All three estimations put Pounds over the legal limit during the crash.
The prosecution asked Mr Hubbard how likely the defendant was under the prescribed legal limit, to which Mr Hubbard told the court it was very unlikely that would have been possible, but added there was a very small chance.
Estimations varied put Pounds between one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit whilst driving.
Under cross-examination by the defence, Mr Hubbard confirmed that these are statistical conclusions.
However, Mr Hubbard told the court that he could not say with certainty that Pounds was over the legal limit at the time of the incident.
Mr Hubbard adds that he believes it was very unlikely Pounds was under the legal limit, as this would have required him to have a faster-than-average breakdown of alcohol in his system.
The judge and Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae, told the court that based on Mr Hubbard's provided information, Pounds would have been "unfit for driving" until around midday on Sunday.
The trial continues.
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