Dad and son who killed boy, 4, in ‘drunk road rage’ crash jailed

A dad and son were seen boozing in a pub for hours before causing a crash that killed a four-year-old boy and left his father paralysed.

Owen Maughan and his dad, Patrick Maughan, have been jailed after ramming a car in drunken rage at a family vehicle following an argument in Northfleet, Kent.

The crash on June 1 last year killed Peter Maughan, aged four, and left his dad unable to walk again.

In the hours before, Owen was drinking in pubs with friends. He drank around 12 bottles of alcohol, while Patrick consumed 13 pints over six and a half hours, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

After a day of drinking, Owen, 27, began driving them home from Rochester, Kent, in a Ford Ranger pick-up truck.

The pair saw Owen’s cousin Hayley Maughan, who was travelling in another Ford pick-up truck with her partner, Lovell Mahon, on their way back from a family day out to a McDonald’s.

Dashcam footage from the A2 in Kent showed the cars driving side-by-side along the A2 in Kent with shouting between them, and Owen ‘terrorising’ and ‘chasing’ the family’s vehicle for several miles.

He then swerved into the wrong lane and clipped the family’s pick-up truck at around 60mph, causing it to roll over three times off New Barn Road in Northfleet.

Peter, who had been in the back seat with his one-year-old sister Annarica Mahon, was thrown out of the vehicle.

His mum screamed for help after finding the youngster lying face down in the grass. Peter died of devastating injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, while his dad suffered a skull fracture but survived.

Ms Maughan described Peter as a ‘happy boy’ who loved going to school.

She said: ‘Peter didn’t get to start his life. He didn’t get to go to school on a school trip. He didn’t even get to learn to read.

‘Peter made me who I was, I had him when I was 18 and now he’s gone I’m nothing.’

The mum described the ‘horror’ of finding his packed lunch and shoes ready for the next school day following his death.

Owen and Patrick fled the scene before the police arrived.

CCTV footage later that night showed Patrick, 54, removing the number plate from the pick-up truck. The car was later found abandoned and damaged, with a child’s pushchair still trapped underneath it.

During the trial, Owen Maughan claimed he didn’t know there were children in the car, but Judge Oliver Saxby KC said he had been aware of it.

Judge Saxby told Owen Maughan: ‘You were angry he had not stopped and wanted to teach him a lesson.

‘This was no ‘nudge’ as you claimed in evidence.

‘You were never going to stop, you didn’t care what happened to Lovell Mahon and his family. “We don’t give a f***”, as you had put it.’

Mr Mahon said his son’s death has ‘broken’ him, and he has anxiety and paranoia when someone drives too close to them.

He said: ‘When I found out he was gone words can’t even describe it.

‘I can’t even get to see Peter at his grave because of the bumps.’

Owen and Patrick Maughan, both of Hill Rise, Dartford, were cleared of murder, but convicted of manslaughter.

Patrick was also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Mahon, which Owen had admitted to.

Owen was jailed for over 12 years and Patrick for 18 years, and the pair was disqualified from driving after their release from prison.

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