Drink-fuelled father and son who killed cousin's son by 'ramming' family's truck off road are found not guilty of murder - as they face years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter
A drink-fuelled driver who killed a four-year-old relative after deliberately ramming a truck off the road at 60mph has been found not guilty of murder - as has his father.
Owen Maughan accepted responsibility for Peter Maughan's death in the high-speed hit-and-run on June 1 last year, but denied intending to cause serious harm to any of the occupants in the youngster's parents' Ford Ranger Wildtrak.
He told Maidstone Crown Court in Kent that when he clipped the vehicle driven by Peter's father Lovell Mahon, he simply wanted to 'nudge' it and never meant the tragic consequences that unfolded.
Aware from the start of the trial that he had admitted Peter's manslaughter, jurors have now acquitted the 27-year-old of the more serious offence after deliberations lasting more than 17 hours.
Also cleared of Peter's murder was Maughan's 54-year-old father Patrick. The pair are respectively the cousin and uncle of Peter's mother Hayley Maughan.
He had been the front seat passenger in Owen's vehicle - again a Ford Ranger Wildtrak - when it hit Lovell Mahon's 4x4 on New Barn Road in Southfleet, Kent, just before 9.30pm last June 1.
Prosecutors had said both defendants were 'in a fury', having angrily and aggressively pursued Mr Mahon, his wife Hayley Maughan and their children Peter and one-year-old sister Annarica.
The alleged chase was along the A2, with Owen Maughan accused of using his truck as a weapon while being actively encouraged by his father to do so.
Four-year-old Peter Maughan was killed when he was thrown from a Ford Ranger Wildtrak
Patrick Maughan, 54, is pictured outside court - he has now been found not guilty of murder
Owen accepted that, during a call with Hayley's brother Jason, he had threatened, 'I'm going to ram them' - just seconds before a clunking noise was heard and the phone line disconnected.
But in his evidence to the jury he denied ever adding, 'We don't give a f***', as alleged, and maintained that the tragic event was never intended and his father was not responsible in any way.
As well as being cleared of murder, the defendants - who are Hayley Maughan's cousin and uncle - were also acquitted of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Mahon, who was left paralysed after the horror smash.
The jury also returned not guilty verdicts for each in respect of two offences of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to Hayley and Annarica.
Patrick was, however, found guilty of Peter's manslaughter and inflicting GBH to Mr Mahon.
These were charges his son had previously admitted along with causing serious injury by dangerous driving to Mr Mahon.
The verdicts were returned with Peter's parents sitting in court for the first time.
During the three-week trial, the court heard Owen Maughan had pulled on to the wrong side of the road when he rammed the rear offside of Mr Mahon's truck with the front nearside of his vehicle.
Pictured: Hayley Maughan and Lovell Mahon and their children Peter and then-one-year-old sister Annarica Maughan
Peter Maughan's mother Hayley Maughan is pictured outside Maidstone Crown Court in Kent
Owen Maughan accepted responsibility for Peter Maughan's death in the high-speed hit-and-run on June 1 last year, but denied intending to cause serious harm
The alleged chase was along the A2, with Owen Maughan accused of using his truck as a weapon while being actively encouraged by his father to do so
The impact caused the vehicle to rotate out of control and then roll up to three times.
Peter, who was affectionately known by loved ones as Peter Rabbit, was thrown out of the truck from his rear seat and died from what were described as 'severe and devastating' head, chest and abdomen injuries.
The jury heard the injuries were unsurvivable, even with immediate medical care, and some bore characteristics reminiscent of tyre tread marks - possibly consistent with being run over or crushed during roll-over.
His father was also ejected from the Ranger and sustained multiple fractures and brain trauma, leaving him in a wheelchair and unlikely to walk again.
Miraculously, the court was told, Hayley and her daughter escaped with minor injuries.
At the time of the pursuit and subsequent collision, the family of four was heading home to Southfleet following a visit to Pepe's restaurant in Maidstone.
Owen and Patrick Maughan were also on their way home to Darenth in Kent after a six-hour drinking session in Rochester, during which they downed as many as 25 bottles and pints of lager between them.
Jurors heard it was by chance that the parties' paths crossed that evening and the reason for trouble to erupt within the space of six minutes still remained unclear.
Peter suffered severe and devastating injuries to his head, chest and abdomen and would not have survived even if he had received immediate medical attention, jurors were told
Although the families had not spoken for years, there was no ongoing feud, and a disagreement between Hayley Maughan and Owen's sister Nicole Maughan at the school gates a few weeks earlier had been resolved, it was said.
Owen Maughan, a married father of three whose youngest child was born a few months after his arrest, will be sentenced at a later date, as will his father.
Judge Oliver Saxby did not request reports to consider dangerousness but said he needed to know more about their 'backgrounds and motivations'.
Remanding the pair back into custody, he told them: 'These, you well know, are serious offences. I need more information about you before I am in a position to pass sentence.
'But, you will know, it will be a lengthy sentence that I am obliged to pass.'
Judge Saxby also thanked the jury for the care they had taken on an 'upsetting case', adding: 'It would have taken its toll, I have no doubt.'
He also remarked on the dignity shown by those present in the courtroom in support of the victims and the defendants.
Before the jurors had retired on Monday to consider their verdicts, Judge Saxby had directed them that in order to convict Owen Maughan they had to be 'sure' his intent was to cause really serious harm when he rammed the Ford Ranger.
Lovell Mahon (right, pictured with his late son Peter) suffered multiple fractures and brain trauma in the crash, leaving him unlikely to walk again
It did not matter whether he knew how many occupants were in the vehicle or their identities.
In the case of Patrick Maughan, the jury was told the issues to consider were encouragement and intent.
Evidence at trial included video and audio recordings made by Hayley herself on her phone of her family being allegedly 'harassed and terrified' for several minutes by the defendants along the A2 from Cobham until the Pepperhill junction at Northfleet.
Lorry dashcam footage also captured about three minutes of the chase, showing the vehicles changing lanes, braking heavily and pulling up alongside each other.
The clips filmed by a frightened Hayley Maughan on WhatsApp showed the Maughans' vehicle closely on their tail as well as aggressive exchanges through the Ranger windows.
She then sent the footage and voicenotes to her mother, providing a running commentary and detailing her panic and fear.
Later, when she spoke to police, she described Patrick Maughan as being red in the face, 'revving up' his son 'like a volcano ready to explode' and making the situation '10 times worse'.
She said she could see him 'frothing' at the mouth and Owen Maughan biting his tongue 'in temper'.
Patrick Maughan, 54, was found topless and lying under a floral duvet at his sister's home in Berkshire when police arrived to arrest him
She told officers: 'We were in fear for our lives. We begged them, we told them that, it's on video camera. We told them that the children were in the motor.
'It wasn't an accident. They knew what they were doing. They had enough time to think.'
The court heard that it was just a few seconds after she filmed her husband shouting 'children in this motor' to the Maughans as the vehicles pulled alongside each other at the Pepperhill junction that the fatal crash occurred.
But, instead of pulling over to help, the defendants sped off from 'the carnage they had created', said the prosecution, driving through debris scattered in the road and with a child's pushchair that had fallen from the rear of the rammed truck wedged under their chassis.
They headed towards Longfield, stopping briefly so Patrick Maughan could rip off the front number plate in what was alleged to be a bid to cover their tracks.
The pair then continued for several miles to Plantation Road in Hextable where they abandoned their Ranger, visibly damaged to the front nearside and still with the buggy jammed underneath.
Owen, a builder by trade with no previous convictions, fled to Manchester while his father went to his sister's in Berkshire.
Both were arrested within two days. Owen returned to Kent to hand himself in to police on June 2 while Patrick was detained on June 3 after he was found by officers in bed, heavily intoxicated.
Owen Maughan accepted responsibility for the death of Peter Maughan (pictured) in a high-speed hit-and-run on June 1 last year - he admitted manslaughter then was cleared of murder
Maughan Snr also lied about not having a phone and, when his device was discovered, he refused to give the PIN so it could be examined. The court heard police have been unable to access it since.
Although they each gave 'no comment' interviews, Patrick Maughan provided two prepared statements in which he denied any intent to cause death or really serious harm, or having 'planned or conspired' to do so.
He did not give evidence at trial but his son told the jury he had simply wanted to put a dent in the Ford Ranger so Mr Mahon would pull over for a fist fight at the side of the road.
At times crying in the witness box, he said that on his journey home that evening he had recognised the vehicle as one commonly used by travellers and, as he pulled up alongside, Mr Mahon was acting aggressively towards him, waving a fist.
They had not met before and it was his father who told him who the driver was, explained Maughan Jnr.
He agreed he tailed him to 'annoy' Mr Mahon, there was 'arguing back and forth' between the trucks, and he and his dad were 'upset'.
But Owen Maughan maintained he had not heard Mr Mahon shouting that there were children in his vehicle, which had tinted rear windows, and did not know any child was present.
Regarding the call with Jason Maughan, although he accepted saying he would ram them, he denied he also remarked, as alleged, 'We don't give a f***'.
Tributes were left beside the A2 near Gravesend in Kent following the tragedy on June 1 2025
Owen Maughan also told the jury that what happened that night had 'nothing to do with' his father.
The court heard that none of the seatbelts or child seat restraints in Mr Mahon's Wildtrak were in use. With the latter, the attached harnesses were at their minimum setting for the smallest of children.
On the question of force used, a forensic collision expert said it was her opinion it 'probably fell' between minor and moderate.
It was said that Mr Mahon's Ranger's restraint control modules (RCM) - a computer safety system designed to react in the event of a collision or anticipation of a collision - was activated but not as a result of the impact from the defendants' vehicle itself.
Nor did the collision activate the RCM on Owen Maughan's Wildtrak, the jury was told.
Prosecutor Richard Jory KC told the court in his closing speech that the accused had 'acted together' in ramming the other vehicle and that it was 'hard to separate' them in terms of culpability.
Furthermore, he said Owen Maughan had 'demonstrably lied' in court about events and 'shouldered the blame' out of loyalty to his dad.
However, Tyrone Smith , defending Owen Maughan, argued there was no 'direct evidence' of his client's intent when he hit the other Wildtrak.
Peter's father Lovell Mahon suffered multiple fractures and brain trauma in the collision, leaving him in a wheelchair and unlikely to walk again
He asserted that what was in everyone's minds when they turned into New Barn Road was simply 'an anticipation of a fist fight in the traditional traveller way'.
Mr Smith also told the court that although the defendant's actions in the aftermath were 'pretty outrageous and cowardly', they did not prove his intent.
Charles Langley, for Patrick Maughan, said the alcoholic had gone drinking that day as he did every Sunday and by the time he headed home with his son was drunk.
But he asserted in his closing speech that the prosecution had not produced any direct evidence his client said or did anything in encouragement of his son, and that neither 'mere presence' nor the circumstantial evidence were enough to convict him.
Mr Smith said the decision by Owen Maughan to ram may have been a 'split second' one in which Patrick Maughan had no time to encourage or foresee what happened.
Accepting the defendant's actions in the aftermath were 'appalling and cowardly', Mr Langley said they were consistent with 'a father trying to protect his son'.
At the trial's start, Patrick Maughan also faced offences of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving - but the jury was discharged by the judge from returning verdicts on those two counts.
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