00:00Peter Morne died on the 1st of June 2025 from a collision between two cars, driven by Owen
00:07and Patrick Morne, the other containing Peter and his wider family, driven by Lowell Morne.
00:12Earlier on that day, Owen and Patrick were filmed drinking in the Jolly Night pub in Rochester,
00:16then being seen by CCTV outside the Citywall wine bar. They would later drive onto the A2,
00:22recognising the car containing the other members of the Morne family, with Lowell in the driver's
00:27seat. In the other car, Owen was at the wheel, with Patrick in the passenger seat.
00:32They were said to have chased the other car for several miles across the A2,
00:36both then pulled into the wrong side of New Barn Road, and at 60 miles an hour,
00:40Patrick's vehicle clipped Lowell's, causing it to spin out of control and roll up to three times.
00:45That impact caused the death of Peter Morne and significant injury to his father Lowell.
00:50Immediately after the crash, Owen and Patrick drove away from it and took steps to avoid
00:55detection by removing the front registration plate of their truck. When it was discovered by police,
00:59they found a pushchair still embedded underneath it. Owen was arrested on the 2nd of June, having
01:05returned to Kent to hand himself in to police, while Patrick was found the next day in bed and
01:10having been drinking. During the court case, both men were cleared of murder in relation to Peter,
01:14as well as being cleared of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to Lowell and attempted
01:19grievous bodily harm to Haley and Anna Rika, the mum and little sister of Peter, who were also in the
01:25car.
01:25After the sentence of almost 31 years in total for the two men, the senior prosecutor read a
01:31statement outside the court on behalf of the family.
01:34We will treasure the memories we made with him in his short life. No sentence handed down today can
01:40bring Peter back or lessen the impact of our loss. Our lives are changed forever.
01:45We wish to express our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported us throughout this investigation
01:50and court process. We are grateful for the professionalism and compassion shown at every
01:55stage and we now ask that our privacy is respected as we continue to grieve.
02:00Haley also spoke briefly outside the court on her thanks to the police.
02:04I'd just like to thank Kent Police for all their help. Thank everyone for the support.
02:09I'm over the moon with the justice today for my little boy Peter. Just one time to grieve now
02:15and that's all I can say today. Thank you very much for your help.
02:19For Haley, Lowell and Anna Rika, today is the end point of a case that's taken over a year to
02:25be
02:25fully completed. According to the senior prosecutor, now they can begin to rebuild their lives and
02:30properly grieve. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Maidstone.
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