Death crash driver could go back to jail

Jamie Filan was imprisoned for a total of five years in 2007 after accidentally running over and killing dental nurse Michelle Dever in Lancing.

The Argus can today reveal he was released in June and is boasting to pals on the internet about his holiday on the hedonistic Spanish island.

Probation Service officials are looking into whether he has breached the conditions of his licence, which restrict him to travel within the UK.

If he has, he could be taken back to prison to complete the rest of his sentence.

Michelle’s family and friends said they were disgusted Filan was not behind bars.

Her mother, Esther, said the family was still suffering.

She said: “We are still all in bits. We have got this empty feeling.

“Last night I broke down. I just couldn’t accept the fact that my daughter was never ever going to come in this house again, and he’s in Ibiza enjoying himself.

“It is unbelievable.”

Filan, 28, is using a page on social networking website Facebook to boast about the fun he is having jet-skiing, quad-biking and nightclubbing.

In one photo he shows off an Audi TT car and brags that he used to drive a Lamborghini.

On August 13 he posted a message saying: “I will be going to Ibiza today! Woooohhhoooooo 4th time this year!”

Michelle was 30 and working as a dental nurse at Shoreham Dental Centre when she was hit by a blue Ford Fiesta driven by Filan, who did not have a licence or insurance, on February 2, 2006.

She was knocked down and left for dead as she crossed the road near her beachfront home in Brighton Road, Lancing.

Filan drove and tried to cover up the crime by dumping the car at Beach Green, less than a mile away.

Police were told the car had been stolen, but detectives discovered this was not true because Filan had locked it when he abandoned it.

Filan, who was living in Lanfranc Road, Worthing, at the time, even travelled to London and claimed he had been in the capital at the time of the crash.

In February 2007, Filan was jailed for three years by a judge at Chichester Crown Court for perverting the course of justice, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and driving without a licence or insurance. He was disqualified from driving for two years.

He was given a two-year sentence to run consecutively for two burglaries at London hotels.

His now ex-wife Louise Filan, then 28, was given a one-year suspended sentence for her part in the attempted cover-up and for obtaining goods by deception.

The couple are now believed to be divorced.

Mrs Dever, 58, said Filan’s sentence was too light and she had considered a private prosecution for causing Michelle’s death.

She said: “I think he should be in prison for the rest of his life for leaving my daughter to die.

“He got nothing for killing my daughter. I couldn’t believe it.

“He can come along and kill my daughter and he’s having a life of luxury.”

Filan went on the run after his burglary conviction in 2006 and failed to turn up in court to plead guilty or not guilty to the crash charges.

After he was brought to court and sentenced, Chichester Crown Court seized £19,000 of his assets, including a Mercedes car, ruling they had come from the proceeds of crime.

Filan is now under the supervision of the probation service in Cambridgeshire, where he is believed to live.

His Facebook page makes no mention of time he served over the death of Miss Dever, except to say the last two and a half years have been “tough”.

Other messages describe how he has shaved his head and lost seven stones in weight. He also makes derogatory remarks about Tottenham Hotspur’s Jewish supporters and Muslims.

On his website he describes how he watched Arsenal beat Celtic 2-0 on the television on Tuesday then went to the famous Space nightclub.

When The Argus contacted Filan through his Facebook page on Thursday we received a message saying: “i am so not in ibiza and if you report any such lies i will sue you for slander.... i am at my home address right now, so please report what you like.......... i have served my sentence and done my time it was an excessive sentence in the first place.”

A later message sent to us read: “i am not having these wild and ludicrous accusations thrown at me.”

At about the same time he left a message to friends on Facebook saying: “lets just say back in England I am in a hell of a lot of s***.”

A Probation Service spokesman said: “We do not comment on individuals.

“Offenders on licensed release from determinate sentences are permitted to leave the UK only in the most exceptional circumstances, and certainly not for holiday, leisure or business.

“Permission would have to be given by the local Assistant Chief Officer of Probation.

“All offenders subject to probation supervision on release from prison have to adhere to a set of strict conditions.

“They are subject to recall to custody if they breach their conditions or their behaviour indicates that it is no longer safe to allow them to remain in the community.

“Any claim that an offender has breached their licence conditions is rigorously investigated.”