St Helens couple jailed for web of lies after M62 crash
Steven Naylor drove at "grossly excessive speed" on the M62 while under the influence of alcohol in the early hours of April 25, 2021, as his Audi hit the back of a motorbike being ridden by 21-year-old Owen Baugh. Owen died in the collision, which took place on the M62 near Rainhill Stoops. Steven Naylor and his wife Lisa Naylor then "prolonged the agony" of Owen's heartbroken family as they exaggerated Steven's symptoms following the crash.
During a hearing last November, both defendants changed their pleas to perverting the course of justice to guilty on the basis that they had "significantly exaggerated" Steven Naylor's condition, rather than "fabricating it". Their web of deceit saw them falsely represent to the police, courts and various medical professionals that Steven was medically unfit to avoid prosecution for causing death by dangerous driving and leave Owen's family stuck in "limbo" for years after the tragedy. While he evaded justice, Steven Naylor lived a "normal" life, playing rugby, going on boat trips, giving a speech at his brother's wedding and attending the Reminisce Festival in 2024.
Sentencing the couple today, Thursday January 8, Judge Simon Medland said that they showed "no shred of humanity or understanding of the agony" which they have brought upon Owen's family by "dragging" things out. In sentencing the husband and wife, he described the case as "uniquely serious".
Defendant drove at 120mph after consuming alcohol
Prosecuting barrister Nicola Daley told Liverpool Crown Court that on April 24, 2021, there had been a gathering at the Naylors' address on Spinney Close, Clock Face, as a "belated birthday celebration" for Lisa. Afterwards, at around 11.45pm she went to bed leaving Steven downstairs.
After consuming alcohol that evening, Steven went into his car and drove up the M62. At around 12.15am there was a crash between his black Audi and a red Suzuki motorbike being ridden by 21-year-old Owen Baugh on the motorway westbound at junction seven, Rainhill Stoops. Ms Daley said the motorbike was being ridden appropriately at 70mph while the same camera showed Steven Naylor's Audi travelling at 120mph.
Naylor had been "flashing his headlights to get people to move out of the way". Both vehicles were in the middle lane and the Audi "collided with the rear of the motorcycle, the defendant's Audi pushing the motorcycle towards the hard shoulder". Ms Daley said Owen fell on to the carriageway and "was unfortunately struck by another vehicle who was unable to avoid (him)".
Both the Audi and the motorcycle continued across the hard shoulder and Steven Naylor's car went through a fence on to a field. A large piece of fencing had gone through the windscreen of the car and "impaled him in the chest area and shoulder area". Police and paramedics attended and reported a "strong smell of alcohol" when speaking to Naylor, who commented to emergency workers that "he was not the one worth helping" and they should instead "concentrate on assisting any others involved".
Steven Naylor was taken to hospital, where he remained until June 10 that year and he was reviewed by a psychiatrist who found there were "issues with his memory at that stage". Naylor spun a web of lies by claiming he was medically unfit to be prosecuted and was even found not guilty by the magistrates' court in July 2023 after he was charged with failing to consent to provide a blood sample for analysis. The sample had been taken from his after the crash and when police went to his address in September 2021 Steven Naylor's solicitor said he didn't believe his client was capable of consenting to the submission of the sample.
He was wrongly acquitted of the charge and Steven Naylor had not appeared as the court was told he was not fit to. 
Lisa Naylor claimed that his memory had "deteriorated" and had been found to have fluid on his brain, in addition to ongoing mobility issues. "The Crown accepts the (basis of plea) that from 2023 there was an exaggeration of ongoing symptoms," Ms Daley said. The court was shown photographic and CCTV evidence of Steven Naylor partaking in activities including playing rugby in April 2023.
They also had plans to attend a disco night and CCTV from Clock Face Miners rugby club showed Naylor carrying a tray of drinks from the bar on June 3. Other evidence showed Naylor going shopping at Aldi and he was also filmed attending the cinema in St Helens with his wife "moving from the car apparently unaided". Naylor had also attended his brother's wedding and gave a speech in August 2023.
He told a doctor in September that he was "unable to remember when he last ate or watched television". 
In October, when police attended his address, Naylor used crutches and one of the officers noticed that Naylor "didn't know how to put the crutches together". Joanne Maxwell, defending Steven Naylor, said that he is "very sorry and regrets his actions on that night". She cited character references and said he had "struggled socially and academically" and was "always very quiet and reserved and as a teenager had lost his mother and cousin in quick succession".
He had been a promising rugby league player and had signed for Bradford Bulls at the time but following these bereavements," he lost his love for the game". Ms Maxwell added that Naylor "has no recollection of what took place that night" and "his family members attest to it being out of character". Anna Duke, defending Lisa Naylor, told the court she has "suffered tragic incidents herself" including "the murder of her brother, the death of her child, the death, in quick succession, of her mother and brother in December 2024".
She was described by one of her sons as "the glue of the family". The court heard heartbreaking victim personal statements from Owen's girlfriend, parents and brother and he was described in the court as a "high achieving, greatly loved and busy young man with a very bright future".
'Appalling and dishonest behaviour'
Passing sentence, judge Simon Medland said the defendants had shown "appalling, selfish and dishonest behaviour". Judge Medland said: "This court's deepest and enduring sympathies are entirely with the family and many friends of the late Owen Baugh.
They have attended today, as they have in many other hearings in this case, and conducted themselves throughout with the utmost dignity. "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 that they effectively conspired together to pervert the course of justice."
You injured yourself because you drove in the way you did when grossly under the influence of alcohol. "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."
The judge said that the defendants had shown "selfish and dishonest behaviour, illustrated by the utter devastation that you have caused in their (Owen's family's) lives". The judge added: "While they were mourning and grieving, you and your wife treated yourself to trips to discos, trips to golf, trips to Dublin, boat trips and lived a normal life of happiness and fulfilment until the police came knocking". He said Naylor had undertaken "an appalling pantomime of being virtually unable to walk" adding "you were assisted at every turn by your wife, Lisa Naylor.
It is very difficult to reconcile your conduct with the (character) references of your previous good character". The judge gave Steven Medland credit of a one-sixth reduction to his sentence for causing death by dangerous driving, and a 10 per cent reduction to both defendants for the perverting the course of justice offences, to which they pleaded guilty on the day of trial in November 2025. Judge Medland added: "You could have pleaded guilty.
You would have reduced the agony of (Owen's) family and friends. But you did not, you persisted. "Your protestations of being unfit to plead were a sham from (the) start.
You can and should have pleaded guilty earlier. "This was a prolonged and sophisticated effort by you and your wife[...] to defeat the true justice of the matter. "You prolonged the agony of the deceased's family and friends."
Steven Naylor, 41, and Lisa Naylor, 40, both of Spinney Close, Clock Face, had initially pleaded not guilty to intent to perverting the course of justice, with Steven Naylor admitting causing Owen's death by dangerous driving back in September. Steven Naylor was sentenced to 10 years for causing death by dangerous driving and two years consecutively for perverting the course of justice, making a total sentence of 12 years imprisonment. Meanwhile, Lisa Naylor was sentenced to four and a half years for perverting the course of justice.
Steven Naylor was also banned from driving for 138 months.