Disqualified driver who killed Layton Darwood in Newcastle has appeal to reduce sentence dismissed

A disqualified driver who caused the death of a five-year-old boy has had a bid to reduce his sentence dismissed in the Court of Appeal.

Layton Darwood was five years old when he was killed in what three senior judges called an "extremely traumatic" incident in Fenham, Newcastle, in August 2020.

Darren Jacques was jailed for six years for causing death by driving while disqualified.

Barristers for Jacques, who was 42 when he was sentenced in December last year, argued at a hearing on Tuesday (13 August) that the sentence was “manifestly excessive” and should be reduced.

The judges, however, threw out the appeal bid stating that the sentence was “fully merited” and that the challenge was “not arguable.”

Giving their ruling, Mr Justice Cavanagh, sitting with Lord Justice Warby and Mr Justice Wall, said: “A sentence of six years’ imprisonment is fully merited.

"It is not unjust in the circumstances of the case.”

Jacques, previously of Penrith, Cumbria, had 26 convictions for 54 offences between 1997 and 2023, including 11 motoring offences.

He had also been disqualified from driving four times, including once in 2018, with the judges describing his record as “appalling” and as showing “habitual flouting” of the law.

Although Jacques was still banned on the day of the incident in Fenham, he had been driving a Ford Transit tipper truck for work between Durham and Newcastle.

The truck had a digger on a trailer attached at the back when he stopped at a shop to buy alcohol.

While inside the shop, Layton climbed onto the trailer parked on Willow Avenue, which went unnoticed by Jacques before he drove away.

Once the vehicle began moving, Layton attempted to step off the trailer but fell and was run over, suffering fatal injuries.

Jacques originally gave a false name to police but was later convicted of causing death by driving while disqualified in September last year following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court.

He was also disqualified from driving for a further six years upon his release.

Barrister Chris Knox, representing Jacques on Tuesday, said that while the consequences of Jacques’ actions were “desperate”, they were “at the very bottom end of bad driving”.

He said: “This is a case where the level of culpable driving was actually very low.”

He continued: “The driving is not itself criticised beyond his failure to check.

"It is not a case in which there was gross driving, it is not a case in which there was intoxication or a case where there was speed, or where there was a dangerous manoeuvre.”

The three judges dismissed the appeal bid. They stated that Layton’s death was “devastating for the victim’s family” and described the sentencing judge’s approach as “conspicuously clear, thoughtful and thorough”.

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