Murder trial hears of gran’s desperate WhatsApp messages before crash which killed four-year-old
The grandmother of Peter Maughan, the four-year-old allegedly murdered when his parents' truck was deliberately rammed in a high-speed hit-and-run, has told a jury of the fear and panic she felt as the family were being chased. Erica Maughan said "a thousand things" were going through her mind over the course of the four minutes in which she exchanged a number of WhatsApp voice notes with her frightened daughter, Hayley, on the evening of Sunday, June 1 last year.
At the time, Hayley and her husband Lovell Mahon, together with their two children, Peter and his one-year-old sister Annarica, were being pursued along the A2 London-bound in their Ford Ranger Wildtrak by another Wildtrak driven by her cousin Owen Maughan with his father, Patrick, in the front seat, jurors have been told. As well as messaging her mum, Hayley also sent phone footage she had recorded of the tailing vehicle, saying it was "driving on top of us" and how she feared for her life because it was "trying to ram" them.
Mrs Maughan tried to keep her daughter calm and initially urged her to carry on driving to their home in Brakefield Road, Southfleet, in the hope they would be safe. But in her evidence read to Maidstone Crown Court, where her nephew and brother-in-law are on trial for Peter's murder, the grandmother revealed her panic as the pursuit continued, culminating in the fatal collision on New Barn Road, Southfleet, at 9.26pm. In her subsequent statement made to police, she said Hayley's first messages, received at 9.22pm, had identified her cousin, described him as being "mowldy" - a traveller term for drunk - and that he was "driving on top" of them.
Her daughter then revealed that 54-year-old Patrick Maughan, who is also known as Francis, was also in the chasing Ford Ranger. Mrs Maughan, who was also at home in Brakefield Road, replied to "drive on" and ignore them, jurors were told.
"I was trying to keep things calm and quiet and to let it blow over," Mrs Maughan said in her statement read to the court on Friday (February 6) by prosecution junior counsel, Patrick Dennis. Hayley continued messaging, saying: "Told you they haven't stopped.
I knew they wouldn't." However, Mrs Maughan told police she "didn't think anything would come of it".
"I was just trying to keep everything calm because I knew the children were in the car and I didn't want anything happening," she explained. The court heard Hayley then revealed how they had tried multiple times to get away but they were still being followed.
Among the videos sent to Mrs Maughan was one at 9.24pm showing the two vehicles travelling side-by-side on the A2. Hayley then messaged, saying: "We have driven on 20 times. What is wrong with people?...Man's trying to drive on top of us....Genuinely in fear of my life.
He is trying to ram into us." In response, Mrs Maughan told her to make their way home before adding they should "ram them".
Explaining her remark, she said: "I was so panicked I didn't really know what I was saying. There were a thousand things going through my head and I just wanted to get them home safe."
Two more videos followed in which Hayley said they were still being tailed and then, in a voice note, she told her mum: "I begged Lovell.
I cried in the vehicle over my two children. "They are not strapped in and a man is trying to drive on top of us." When she later spoke to police, she said Peter had a habit of removing his seatbelt and, in her panic as the chase unfolded, she had not double-checked.
She also told her mum in response to the "ram them" comment that their Ford Ranger was "all we have" and could not afford another.
However, within seconds, Mrs Maughan was urging them to "pull in and jump out" before asking their whereabouts on the A2.
She then received another clip of phone footage at 9.26pm showing the two vehicles side-by-side at the roundabout on the exit slip road at Pepperhill. Lovell Mahon was shouting out of his window at Owen and Patrick Maughan, telling them "children are in the motor". The court has heard that within 12 seconds of that angry encounter and about 300m up New Barn Road, the family's pickup truck had been rammed in the rear at an estimated 60mph, causing it to spin out of control and roll up to three times before coming to a halt, upright, and at a right angle across the road.
Mrs Maughan's subsequent calls and voice notes went unanswered.
Picture: Family handout
"I didn't know what was going on, where they were. I was feeling so frightened for them. I had no idea what was going on," she told police.
Following the smash and with debris scattered about, Owen, 27, and Patrick Maughan drove off in the direction of Longfield while passing motorists stopped to help.
A Tesla driver and his passengers were confronted by a screaming Hayley Maughan flagging them down with her bleeding daughter in one arm and a "slumped" Peter in the other being held up under his armpits. The occupants immediately took them to Darent Valley Hospital, with one attempting resuscitation throughout the journey. But jurors were told the little boy could not be saved and was pronounced dead by medical staff just after 10pm, having suffered severe and devastating injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Truck used 'as a weapon' in crash that killed four-year-old boy[1]
Mum feared driver 'wouldn't stop' before hit-and-run that killed son, 4[2] Mum describes panic moments before fatal crash in son's murder trial[3]
'I'm going to ram them': Court hears of phone call seconds before fatal crash[4] While Hayley and Annarica escaped with minor injuries, Lovell Mahon, then 24, sustained multiple fractures and brain trauma, leaving him unlikely to walk again.
It is the prosecution case that, for reasons unclear, the defendants, both of Hill Rise, Darenth, were "in a fury" when the parties came together by chance on the A2. While father and son had spent the afternoon and evening drinking in Rochester, consuming 25 lagers between them, Hayley, Lovell and the children had been to Pepe's restaurant in Maidstone.
Despite being closely related, the court was told the two families had not spoken "for years" following a rift between Hayley's dad and his sister, Winifred - Owen's mum and Patrick Maughan's wife. Just a week or so before the alleged murder bid, Hayley was said to have had "a problem" with Owen's sister, Nicole, at a school.
Sonny Maughan, Hayley's eldest sibling, told police in a statement that if the families saw each other they would "look the other way".
"I have had arguments with them over a few years but nothing that would cause such violence to be used," he added. Their youngest sibling, Sean, also told police: "They are not considered our family and we don't speak to each other." Owen Maughan is now on trial accused of four offences - murder of Peter Maughan, causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent to Lovell Mahon and attempting to cause GBH with intent to both Annarica Maughan and Hayley Maughan.
Patrick Maughan faces eight charges - murder and manslaughter in respect of Peter, causing the youngster's death by dangerous driving, three offences in respect of Mr Mahon, namely causing GBH with intent, inflicting GBH and causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and two of attempting to cause GBH with intent to Annarica and Hayley Maughan.
Jurors have heard that Owen has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, as well as causing serious injury by dangerous driving and inflicting GBH in respect of Lovell Mahon.
It is the prosecution case that Owen Maughan used his truck as a weapon while being "actively encouraged" by his dad.
The trial continues.
References
- ^ Truck used 'as a weapon' in crash that killed four-year-old boy (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ Mum feared driver 'wouldn't stop' before hit-and-run that killed son, 4 (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ Mum describes panic moments before fatal crash in son's murder trial (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ 'I'm going to ram them': Court hears of phone call seconds before fatal crash (www.kentonline.co.uk)