She wept as she faced jail for trying to cover up killer husband’s crime
A mum wept as she sat on the brink of prison after attempting to cover up her killer husband's crime. Steven Naylor reached speeds of up to 120mph as he drunkenly flew down the motorway after his wife's birthday party.
The dad-of-four then ploughed into the back of a motorcycle being ridden by 23-year-old Owen Baugh, who was fatally knocked into the carriageway and hit by another vehicle. While the car driver himself was seriously injured, having been impaled by a wooden fence when his car veered off the road, both him and his wife Lisa then set about weaving a web of lies in order to avoid the consequences of his mindless and selfish actions.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
This involved the couple vastly exaggerating the extent of the difficulties he had been left with as a result of the collision, thereby hoping that he would avoid justice. But, despite having claimed that he could barely walk, their cruel deceit was exposed by pictures and videos of him playing rugby, kayaking and going on boating trips, holidaying abroad and shopping at the supermarket.
Liverpool Crown Court[1] heard yesterday, Thursday, that the Naylors held a belated birthday party for Lisa at their home address on Spinney Close in St Helens[2] on the evening of April 24 2021. After members of their family had left, she recalled having gone to bed at around 11pm, leaving Steven downstairs.
While Lisa Naylor later noticed his phone on the bedside table, she subsequently woke up in the early hours to find that her 41-year-old husband had left the house.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said: "For some unknown reason, after consuming alcohol during the course of the evening, Stephen Naylor chose to get into his car and ended up driving along the M62 motorway." Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
Around a mile prior to the scene of the crash at junction seven for Rainhill[3], Mr Baugh's motorcycle was captured travelling "entirely properly" in the middle lane at speeds of around 70mph. However, the same CCTV camera then recorded Naylor's Audi A4 travelling behind the bike at roughly 120mph while also "flashing his headlights to get people to move out of the way".
Both remained in lane two when the car struck the back of the motorbike, pushing it towards the hard shoulder.
Mr Baugh, from Manchester, fell into the left hand lane as a result, at which stage he was struck by another vehicle, which was "unable to avoid" the collision, and killed.
In a statement which was read out to the court on her behalf, Owen's girlfriend Alice Batt said: "He was kind, full of life and had so much love to give to the world. Every day since his death has been a struggle.
"His absence is at the forefront of every moment. Birthdays, holidays and every day reminds us of what has been taken.
To the person responsible, I hope you understand the magnitude of your actions. This wasn't an accident, it was a loss of a life filled with potential and the devastation of everyone who loved him. No sentence can bring him back."
Owen Baugh, 23, sadly died following a crash on the M62 on Sunday, April 25 -Credit:Family handout
His dad Brian Baugh meanwhile added in his own statement: "In 2021, Owen was 23 years old.
He had already achieved so much in his life. He was so laidback he'd nearly fall off his chair. When he needed to focus, he was so motivated.
He was a flamboyant character who loved to wear bright, fluffy coats. He would get along with anyone of all walks of life. He was such a kind, loving person."
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Lisa Naylor was seen wiping away tears with a tissue as it was heard that Owen, who worked in a pub and university laboratories during his studies, had recently received a commendation for rescuing an elderly man from a burning building and had been due to start working as a financial advisor for another man whose life he had saved. The statement went on to speak of his plans to take a gap year before embarking on a master's degree and how he had set up a business in the USA, adding: "Owen was only minutes away from where he was going, a fitness centre to work at the gym.
"In the the early hours of the morning, we got a knock on the door. There was a police officer with a cap under his arm, asking if Owen had a red Suzuki motorbike and told me he'd been involved in a fatal road traffic collision.
This is something nobody can prepare for. I had to tell my wife, who was in bed, that our son was dead."
A procession of 60 bikes from a motorcycle club in Rochdale later attended his funeral in order to "make sure he had the right send off". Mr Baugh labelled his son as being "a person who could not sit by and see injustice happen" and said: "His death has been the biggest injustice of all.
He was going places and making a difference to the world. That all ended the second the crash happened."
Mr Baugh meanwhile reported that his wife told police officers as they left the hospital: "Make sure you always tell your kids you love them. We can never say that to Owen again."
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
The court finally heard from Owen's mum Marie Baugh, who said: "I'm left without closure or justice. This has deeply affected every part of my life. Even the smallest day to day tasks feel overwhelming.
"The ongoing lack of resolution has added to my pain.
Every day without justice feels like a reminder of what has been taken from me. The loss of Owen has changed me forever. The uncertainty surrounding his case continues to cause me great distress.
I feel like my life has been put on hold and I can't cant begin to heal.
"He wont get to grow into the brilliant and kind young man we knew he was becoming. His future was full of promise, and that's been stolen from him and us. I've had to watch my eldest son struggle with grief and the absence of his brother.
I feel helpless that we can't take away his pain.
"We are left trying to live in world which feels empty without Owen. All we want is justice for Owen. He was a loving son and brother.
He deserves to be remembered with dignity. We ask the court to recognise the devastation caused to our family and ensure Owen receives the justice he deserves." Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Following the crash, Naylor's Audi continued onto the grass verge at the side of the motorway, smashing through a wooden fence and coming to rest in an adjacent field.
This resulted in a "long piece of the fencing" piercing the front windscreen and impaling him to the left shoulder area.
Police officers and paramedics who attended the incident reported a "strong smell of alcohol" when speaking to Naylor, who commented that "he was not the one worth helping, but that they should concentrate on assisting any others involved in the accident". He remained in hospital for several weeks until eventually being discharged on June 10 2021.
Steven Naylor, of Spinney Close in St Helens, aged 41 -Credit:Merseyside Police
But, later, his and 40-year-old Lisa Naylor's "conduct became dishonest by exaggerating the ongoing effects of his undoubtedly serious injuries". This initially saw them maintain that he did not have the capacity to consent for a sample of his blood, taken in the aftermath of the crash as he lay unconscious, to be submitted for analysis.
Having been charged with failing to provide a specimen of blood for analysis, he was ultimately cleared of this offence in his absence by magistrates in July 2023 due to the evidence of a psychiatrist, with Steven Naylor having presented as "distressed" and "hyperventilating, holding his chest in his hands" during a video link consultation with the clinician.
Having also "appeared perplexed and fallen asleep" during this meeting, Lisa Naylor claimed that her partner's short term memory had deteriorated and had been found to have fluid on his brain, in addition to ongoing issues with his "walking and gait". Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement
However, detectives subsequently discovered that she had been sent a video of her husband playing rugby on April 2023 while messages also showed their plans to attend an 80s disco night for Steven Naylor's birthday and CCTV from Clock Face Miners rugby club showed him showed him carrying a tray of drinks from the bar on June 3. Six days later, he and his wife were caught on camera in the Glass House pub in the town, while he was then captured on numerous occasions in June and July 2023 visiting Aldi and Morrisons supermarkets independently and carrying his own shopping.
Further footage meanwhile showed him "standing, waiting to order some food" at Pennington Flash Nature Reserve in Leigh on June 15.
Then, on July 15 2023, the day he had been due to appear before the magistrates' court, he was filmed attending the cinema with his co-defendant, "moving from the car, apparently unaided, throughout".
Naylor thereafter attended his brother's wedding the following month, even delivering a speech during the celebrations, with pictures taken in August 2023 also showing him in a canoe and "helping somebody climb a tree". With Merseyside Police still pursuing a prosecution against him in relation to the crash, he went on to tell another doctor during an assessment in September 2023 that he was unable to remember when he last ate or watched television.
Lisa Naylor meanwhile maintained that he was "struggling with mobility and used a walking stick inside the house". However, further evidence later showed him attending the gym, visiting the cinema again, assisting in rugby coaching, playing golf, embarking upon a boat trip, holidaying in Dublin, performing work on a car, kayaking and attending Reminisce Festival during the summer of 2024.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Both were then interviewed by police in October 2024 as a result of these findings but "misrepresented his true abilities", with Steven Naylor apparently seeming unsure how to use his walking stick when officers attended their home. Ms Daley added: "Both have completed misrepresented the true abilities to various experts, in particular, from that 2023 period right through 2024, which caused significant delays in terms of this investigation and bringing this matter to court."
Steven Naylor admitted causing death by dangerous driving around a month prior to a scheduled trial before pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice on the day he was due to face a jury. Having limped as he carried a holdall into the dock, where he wore a black long sleeved polo shirt and glasses, he showed no reaction as he was jailed for 12 years.
Lisa Naylor similarly pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice on the day of trial.
Wearing a black coat and sporting long black hair, she was imprisoned for 54 months.
Lisa Naylor, of Spinney Close in St Helens, aged 40 -Credit:Merseyside Police
Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said: "Owen Baugh was a high achieving, greatly loved and busy young man with a very bright future. He was brave. He was charitable and he was public spirited.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
"The facts of this case could scarcely be worse. They are uniquely serious, in my long experience. I have never come across, either at the bar or on the bench, a case where two people were so determined to avoid the true consequences of the actions of one.
"They effectively conspired together to pervert the course of justice.
This against the background of a young man simply going to the gym who was killed because of the state of your driving, Steven Naylor.
"Because of your lies, deceit and selfishness, you escaped conviction for unlawfully failing to provide a specimen. You lied and gulled a psychologist who gave evidence on your behalf, based on what you said to him.
"You then proceeded to lie to various other psychiatrists, pretending that you were unfit to plead. By doing so, you have dragged this out and showed, in the view of the family and friends, no shred of humanity and understanding of the agony and despair you have heaped upon them.
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
"While they were mourning and grieving, you and your wife treated yourself to trips to discos, golf, Dublin, boat trips and lived a normal life of happiness and fulfilment, until the police came knocking for you again. Yet again, you exaggerated whatever symptoms you may have had, undertaking an appalling pantomime of being virtually unable to walk.
"You were assisted at every turn by your wife, Lisa Naylor. It is very difficult to reconcile your behaviour with the references, which are abundant, on your behalf and your previous good character.
"Throughout this, you could have pleaded guilty or indicated as such.
You would have reduced the agony of the family and friends. But you did not. You persisted.
Your protestations of being unfit to plead were, in my judgement, a sham from start to finish, and you knew that.
"This was a prolonged and sophisticated effort by you and your wife to defeat the true justice of the matter. You grossly delayed the prosecution of this case and thereby prolonged the agony of the deceased's family and friends. I have scarcely encountered a case even similar to this in its seriousness."
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
Advertisement
Steven Naylor was also banned from driving for 138 months and will be required to pass an extended retest before he is allowed back behind the wheel. Detective Constable Clare Barker, from Merseyside Police's serious collision investigation unit, said following the hearing: "Owen's death was needless and completely avoidable, and it has had a devastating impact his family and the many people who knew and loved him.
"They have always been at the forefront of our minds and whilst today's sentence will do nothing to bring Owen back to his family, I hope it gives them some comfort knowing that the people responsible for his death and the subsequent near five years of delays and additional heartache are now serving time behind bars. This has been an incredibly challenging case, not just because of its complexity but because of the deliberate and sustained dishonesty shown by the suspects over such a long period of time.
"They repeatedly claimed that Steven Naylor was unable to live a functioning life and was mentally incapable of being able to face the consequences of his actions whilst driving on that fateful April 2021 night.
Yet the evidence we have painstakingly gathered has shown a very different lifestyle than what was portrayed.
"This evidence clearly showed Steven Naylor going about his daily routine and enjoying outings with his family, all whilst showing no regard for the grieving family of Owen Baugh. Through the gathering of hundreds of hours of CCTV and a raft of medical and documentary evidence, we have been able to show that the story being portrayed was just that, a piece of fiction. Advertisement
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement
"The actions of Steven and Lisa Naylor have been nothing short of callous and have not allowed Owen's already grieving family and friends to begin to make steps forward.
My thoughts remain firmly with the Baugh family, who have shown immense dignity and strength throughout this ordeal.
"I would also like to thank the members of the public who stopped to help on the M62 on the night of this collision and who assisted with our investigation.
In particular, two motorists who bravely put themselves in harm's way by running to Owen's aid and waving towards other approaching motorists to warn them of what was ahead.
"I hope this outcome sends a powerful message that Merseyside Police will not relent in our pursuit of justice for those killed or seriously injured on our roads.
We will continue to investigate thoroughly and with tenacity, challenging dishonesty whilst always focusing on victims and their families, no matter how long it takes."