Heartbroken Friends Begged for Help as Drink-Driver, 40, K.i.l.l.e.d 13-Year-Old Girl — Then Forced Them to Lie to Police While She Lay Dying
A 40-year-old man who stole a car after drinking, crashed it at speed and killed a 13-year-old girl has been jailed for more than 12 years. What made the case especially chilling was his behaviour in the moments after the smash: while the girl’s friends fought to save her life, he ordered them to lie to police.
Dwane Moody took a Nissan Note belonging to another party guest in Dane End, Hertfordshire, on the evening of 31 January. He had no licence and no insurance. Evelyn Haylock, 13, sat in the front passenger seat; two other teenagers were in the back. Witnesses later described the car being driven erratically and at high speed.
Less than two miles from the party, on Whitehill near Ware, Moody failed to negotiate a bend. The vehicle smashed through a fence. Evelyn suffered catastrophic injuries. Her friends immediately began first aid and called emergency services. As they worked on her, Moody instructed them to claim that another vehicle had forced them off the road.
He then left the scene, only to return with the car’s owner. He again pressured one of the teenagers to stick to the false story. When officers arrived, Moody was arrested. He was taken to hospital as a precaution, found to have no significant injuries, and later charged.
Evelyn was airlifted to hospital but died from her injuries on 4 February. The two other young passengers sustained only minor soft-tissue injuries. They had endured the dual trauma of watching their friend die and being intimidated by the adult responsible.
At St Albans Crown Court, Moody pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while uninsured, causing death while driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, two counts of perverting the course of justice, and aggravated taking of a vehicle without consent. On Friday he was sentenced to 12 years and eight months in prison and banned from driving for 17 years and four months.
In court, Evelyn’s mother described a child who “absolutely loved life” and whose favourite place was the trampoline in the garden. “I can still close my eyes and see her jumping, laughing, and defying gravity,” she said. “Evelyn’s feet will never touch that trampoline again. Her laughter has been permanently silenced. The defendant didn’t just cause a crash; he shattered my entire universe.”
Her father called Evelyn “the light of all our worlds” and “the strongest link” holding the family together. Police described Moody’s actions as a series of reckless and selfish decisions. A detective noted that a grown man had tried to persuade teenagers to lie for him while they were still trying to save their friend.
The case highlights the devastating consequences of unlicensed, uninsured and impaired driving, especially when an adult places children in a vehicle. It also underlines the additional cruelty of attempting to corrupt the evidence while a young life hung in the balance. Moody’s sentence reflects both the fatal crash and the calculated effort to evade responsibility in its immediate aftermath. Evelyn’s family continue to live with a loss that no prison term can repair.
