Boy Paralysed After Mother Allowed Drug Dealer Behind The Wheel

A young boy was left paralysed and his two siblings seriously injured after their mother allowed her drug dealer to drive them home.

Shayna Bowman, 29, accepted a lift from Rhys Farry, 30, following a football tournament, despite knowing he had been drinking and using cocaine. During the journey on the A537 near Chelford, Farry ran a red light, clipped another car, and crashed into a tree.

Bowman's youngest child, aged two, suffered a catastrophic spinal injury and is now paralysed. Her five-year-old daughter sustained a fractured neck along with a broken and dislocated arm, while her six-year-old son broke his collar bone.

At Chester Crown Court, Bowman admitted three counts of child neglect and received a 20-month prison term, suspended for 20 months. Despite the offences, she was judged fit to continue caring for her children.

Farry, described by prosecutors as Bowman's cocaine supplier, had 357 micrograms of the cocaine breakdown product BZE in his system. One of the children had even asked him to slow down before the crash. He attempted to flee the scene but was jailed for three years at an earlier hearing.

Bowman, from Wythenshawe, Manchester, told police: "It was a massive mistake, and I have to live with it for the rest of my life. My kids mean everything to me."

Judge Natalie Cuddy told her: "Your guilty pleas are the most genuine expression of remorse, and it strikes me that there is very little the court can impose that equates to the punishment you have already suffered."

E&K Solicitors