A close friend of Dean and Charlie Lowe who started a campaign for higher penalties for causing death by dangerous driving in the wake of their tragic deaths has welcomed the States decision to introduce a new hit-and-run offence.
Sophie Reid thanked Deputy Catherine Curtis and Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan after the States Assembly voted unanimously in favour of Deputy Curtis’s proposition, yesterday.
This means that failing to stop and report an accident and to provide assistance to injured people following a serious or fatal injury will become a standalone offence within the Road Traffic Law.
Deputy Curtis said that she had personal reasons for introducing the proposition, having worked with Mr Lowe, who died in August 2023 when he was hit by a drunk driver as he was walking along a road in Grouville with his 11-year-old son Charlie.
The court had been told that Pounds had consumed nine pints of lager and had been driving at more than twice the speed limit at the time of the fatal collision, and that he did not stop at the scene but continued driving.
Deputy Curtis said Mr Lowe was “a big character with plenty more to offer”, describing the “callousness and carelessness” of Pounds as “inexcusable”.
She added that there had been extensive support from islanders for her proposal.
Behind the victims, there are family and friends who are suffering as well
Sophie Reid, friend of dean and charlie lowe
Mrs Reid – a close friend of the Lowes who was with Dean and Charlie on the night they died – lodged a petition last year calling for Jersey sentencing guidelines to be increased in line with those in the UK.
After the petition gained over 1,000 signatures, Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat confirmed she would support a review of sentencing for those who cause death by dangerous driving.
Speaking to Express after Deputy Curtis’s proposition was approved, Mrs Reid said: “I just really hope they follow through now with changing the sentencing.
“I feel like this is the first step towards the bigger plan and the bigger issues, so hopefully that will be what comes next.”
She added: “Behind the victims, there are family and friends who are suffering as well.”