Drunk driver who killed girl, 6, could soon be walking the streets

Mother of six-year-old girl killed by drunk driver who mounted the kerb in 48mph horror crash says she’s devastated after learning he could soon be walking the streets… just a year after being jailed

• John Owen mounted kerb in 48mph horror crash that killed Sharlotte-Sky Naglis

The devastated mother of a six-year-old girl killed by a drunk driver says she’s devastated after learning he could be walking the streets just a year after he was jailed.

John Owen mounted the kerb in a 48mph horror crash where he killed Sharlotte-Sky Naglis as she walked home with her father Kris in June 2021.

But just a year after he was jailed he is being considered for transfer to a Category D prison – the lowest security jail type in the country where some convicts are allowed out unsupervised for days on end.

Sharlotte’s devastated mother, Claire Reynolds, said she was astounded that while she was facing a third Christmas without her daughter, the man responsible for her death could soon be spending festive seasons with his family.

Ms Reynolds, 39, found out about Owen’s potential transfer in a letter from the Probation Service’s Victim Contact Scheme. 

Sharlotte (above) was pronounced dead at the scene after being hit by Owen’s Skoda Fabia as she walked on the pavement with her father, Kris Naglis, in Endon Road, Norton, north Staffordshire, in June 2021

But just a year after he was jailed John Owen (pictured) is being considered for transfer to a Category D prison – the lowest security jail type in the country where some convicts are allowed out unsupervised for days on end 

Sharlotte’s devastated mother, Claire Reynolds, said she was astounded that while she was facing a third Christmas without her daughter, the man responsible for her death could soon be spending festive seasons with his family

It informed her that ‘the offender is being considered for transfer to an open Category D prison’, adding: ‘(We) appreciate that any news in relation to the offender’s progression through his sentence is going to be extremely upsetting and difficult for you to deal with, especially so soon after his sentence.’

READ MORE: Drink-driver, 46, who was twice the legal limit as he mounted the kerb and crashed into a six-year-old girl at 48mph is jailed for six years for death by dangerous driving

Owen, of The Square, Oakamoor, was 45 when he ploughed into Sharlotte and her father as they walked along the pavement on Endon Road on June 19, 2021. 

He had been drinking all day and taking drugs, and was on his mobile phone and driving at speeds of up to 50mph moments before the impact.

He was sentenced to six years and two months in prison in October last year, after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

If he is moved to a Category D prison he will be living in open conditions and could be eligible for Release On Temporary Licence (ROTL) during holidays such as Christmas.

The nearest Category D prison to North Staffordshire is Sudbury in Derbyshire.

Ms Reynolds said: ‘It is absolutely devastating. They’re talking tough about having the option to give life sentences to killer drivers, but the reality is we have one here who has killed a helpless little girl, and he could soon be sitting down to Christmas dinner with his family while I will never be able to do that with Sharlotte again.

‘I get that there is an element of rehabilitation, but what kind of punishment is this? To be experiencing life as a free man barely a year after going to jail for killing an innocent child is no punishment at all.’

Ms Reynolds’ MP, Jonathan Gullis, campaigned with her to have Owen’s sentence increased on the grounds it was ‘unduly lenient’

Ms Reynolds, 37, described her daughter as ‘loving, caring, brave, thoughtful, clever and full of energy’

Ms Reynolds’ MP, Jonathan Gullis, campaigned with her to have Owen’s sentence increased on the grounds it was ‘unduly lenient’. 

He is also pushing for change to the Road Traffic Act that would remove the need for suspects like Owen to consent to let tests be carried out on blood samples taken while they were unconscious.

On learning of the news Owen may be eligible to move to the most lax type of prison, he wrote to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk in protest at the decision.

He said: ‘This is simply outrageous, and yet another painful obstacle for Claire who has already faced the trauma of delays to the case being investigated and an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the sentence issued.

‘Claire and I need answers as to why this move to a Category D prison is under consideration at all, given the incredibly high sensitivity and public strength of feeling about this case. 

‘It further undermines Mr Owen’s lenient sentence, and would make it even clearer to Claire and everyone else impacted that Mr Owen has escaped justice.’

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