Mum’s terror as she ‘begged’ cousin not to ‘ram car’ in chase that killed son

Hayley Maughan says she 'feared for her life' during the pursuit, before her four-year-old son was tragically killed

14:57, 04 Feb 2026

Peter, second, left with his family whose car was rammed(Image: PA)

A mum of a four-year-old boy killed in a crash after being "rammed" off the road by her cousin said they had "begged" them not to do it, a trial heard.

Hayley Maughan said how she was "panicking so bad" as her cousin, Owen Maughan, and his father, Patrick Maughan, "chased" her family-of-four for several miles on the A2 in Kent before their car flipped and crashed.

A trial at Maidstone Crown Court heard on Wednesday that after the crash, Ms Maughan looked for her children in the back seats and Peter was not there.

Jurors had previously heard how the little boy was thrown from the vehicle and died as a result of the crash - with "severe and devastating injuries" to his head, chest and abdomen leaving him no chance of survival. His mother saw him face down in some grass and screamed for help.

Peter died after being thrown from the car in the crash(Image: PA)

Owen Maughan, 27, and Patrick Maughan, 54, are on trial accused of the murder of Peter, on June 1 last year. As both pick-up trucks left the A2 at Pepper Hill, near Northfleet, prosecutor Richard Jory KC, described how the pair were "in a fury" as they came across Hayley's family car.

Owen drove into the wrong lane and clipping the back of their Ford pick-up truck at about 60mph, the court heard.

Mr Jory said the action was "a deliberate ramming at high speed", and that Owen had "used his car as a weapon to ram the other vehicle off the road".

Ms Maughan was travelling in the car with her partner, Lovell Mahon, who was driving, and their children Peter and his then one-year-old sister, Annarica Maughan.

In her police interview, Ms Maughan said: "They chased us. We were in fear for our life. We begged them.

We told them that the children was in the motor.

"I knew he was gonna do it. You're not stupid... you're in fear for your life. You've got that gut feeling, don't you?"

Peter Maughan, right, with his father Lovell Mahon(Image: Cover Images)

Asked why she was in fear for their lives, she added because they kept following us and it was a "mother's instinct" when your children are in the car you think "we're gonna be in a car crash".

Also asked if she believed it was deliberate or accidental, Ms Maughan said: "This is a terrible accident what happened, but it's not an accident - it's deliberate."

She told officers that the family had been to McDonald's and then were driving around to get the children to sleep because Peter was "not a good sleeper".

"On the way back happy as we always are, happy, laughing, joking," she said, before the chase began. She filmed video clips of Owen and Patrick following them, leaving a voice note for her mother, Erica, in which she said she was afraid.

Patrick Maughan, 54, is on trial accused of the murder of Peter(Image: Cover Images)

Asked by officers for any reason why Owen would do this, Ms Maughan replied: "No, I want a reason, I need to know why he's done this." Of Patrick Maughan, whom she refers to as Francis, she described his face as "blood, blood, blood red," adding: "There was like froth coming out of his mouth, he was screaming."

She said of him as the front passenger in the car: "If that was me, you'd try and calm somebody down wouldn't you... that's common sense. You'd try and calm them down but Francis wasn't, he was revving him (Owen) up."

The court previously heard that Owen and Patrick Maughan had been drinking in Rochester, Kent, that day, and had about 12 bottles of beer and 13 pints respectively, before they began driving their Ford Ranger pick-up truck home.

Owen Maughan has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Peter Maughan, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Mahon.

Patrick Maughan denies the charges.

The trial continues.