UK Government Considers Changing Law on Unfit-to-stand-trial Defendants After Family's Campaign

Sophie Brimble, 20, died in July 2017 in Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, when her boyfriend, Jay Bayliss, crashed into a lamp-post while driving at almost three times the speed limit. He was deemed too badly injured for criminal proceedings. In 2019, a court found Bayliss' friend Neil Brooks guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after the two decided to race on a residential road.

Brooks was jailed for eight years and given a nine-year driving ban. Gwent Police calculated the two cars were travelling at more than 80mph on 30mph roads in the moments before Bayliss lost control. Bayliss was subsequently found too badly injured to stand trial, but police reopened the investigation in 2024 after discovering he had successfully reapplied for a driving licence.

He was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but in March 2026 a judge ruled, based on medical evidence, that he remained unfit for the criminal process to go ahead. A trial of facts was held instead, and a jury found Bayliss responsible for causing Brimble's death by dangerous driving.