Driver cleared of murder after killing boy, 4, in pick-up truck after high-speed crash

Owen Maughan, 27, had previously admitted to the manslaughter of Peter Maughan following the incident in Kent last year NewsUKCrimeDriver cleared of murder after killing boy, 4, in pick-up truck after high-speed crashOwen Maughan, 27, had previously admitted to the manslaughter of Peter Maughan following the incident in Kent last yearAnahita Hossein-Pour Thursday 19 February 2026 18:10 GMTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverDriver who killed four-year-old boy in pick-up truck crash cleared of murderFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy noticeA driver who admitted killing a four-year-old boy in a crash after deliberately hitting the family’s car at around 60mph has been cleared of murder.Owen Maughan, 27, had previously admitted to the manslaughter of Peter Maughan following the incident on New Barn Road, Dartford, Kent, on June 1 last year. His father, Patrick Maughan, 54, who was a front-seat passenger and accused of encouraging the act, was also cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday.Peter was thrown from the family pick-up truck and died of “severe and devastating injuries” to his head, chest and abdomen.The trial had heard that Owen and Patrick Maughan “chased” the car down the A2 in Kent for several miles.There was shouting between the two cars before Owen Maughan drove into the wrong lane and clipped the Ford pick-up truck at about 60mph, and the car rolled over multiple times, the court heard.Peter Maughan was in the back of the car with his one-year-old sister Annarica Mahon, while their mother Hayley, Owen Maughan’s cousin, was in the front passenger seat and her partner Lovell Mahon was driving.Mr Mahon suffered serious injuries including a skull fracture and is unlikely to walk again.Owen Maughan had previously admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Mahon.The jury also found Patrick Maughan guilty of the same charge.Owen Maughan was found guilty at Maidstone Crown Court (PA Archive)The court had heard that Mr Mahon and Owen Maughan had never met and he did not associate with his cousin Hayley.Hayley Maughan filmed video clips of the two men following them, leaving a voice note for her mother Erica in which she said she was afraid.Giving evidence during the trial, Owen Maughan told jurors he did not know there were children in the car.He said he believed he and Mr Mahon were going to fight after arguing back and forth between the cars, and he decided to dent the side of Mr Mahon’s car so he would stop and get out.He denied trying to cause serious injury.After the crash, Owen and Patrick Maughan drove off and paused for Patrick Maughan to pull the registration plate off the truck, which Owen said was done in a state of “panic”.Jurors heard the pair had been drinking in Rochester earlier 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 told jurors that they spotted a similar vehicle which made them think the drivers may also be from the traveller community, and pulled up alongside.But he said Mr Mahon was “aggressive and pointing at me” and Maughan got “pretty pissed off with it” so he started “following him just to try and annoy him”.He said he decided to dent the side of the other car so Mr Mahon would pull in and fight, and “couldn’t believe” what he was seeing when the car flipped over.The pair will be sentenced at a later date.More aboutmaidstone crown courtmanslaughterdriverCrashDartfordMost popularPopular videosBulletinRead next