It's a good job he wasn't eating an apple at the same time!

[rawnee]

How can this possibly be just?

*ETA* This is the shoddy excuse for an upholder of the law who released him!

"Lady Justice Hallett said there was "little or nothing" Lord Ahmed could have done to avoid the collision".

I beg to differ.  He could have kept his hands on his steering wheel and his eyes on the road!

"She said he had never been accused of, or admitted, causing death by dangerous driving".

What???  I would have thought the vast majority of people who have been jailed for manslaughter following road accidents had never done it before, so how many times do you have to do it before you are really punished?

He should be thrown back in prison and she should be sacked!

Comments

[frankthepirate.livejournal.com]

yeah, husband and I have been on about how shit this is.

[rawnee.livejournal.com]

I know. I just don't get it. He took a person's life and spent 16 days in prison? Joe Public wouldn't and haven't got away with anything like that. It's disgraceful and he should be sent back to prison!

[frankthepirate.livejournal.com]

I know. Its fucking shit. The dude that did Tippit over did SIX MONTHS for killing 4 dogs, loads of horses, and other animals slowly and painfully, so I am not at all shocked that this schmuck got off.

[rawnee.livejournal.com]

Is it wrong that cruelty to animals actually disturbs me more than cruelty to children? I think I'm a sick individual.

[frankthepirate.livejournal.com]

no, I agree, beating animals is worse. An animal never goes to school to be seen by teachers and so on, an animal never grows up to talk and tell what happened. An animal will still love you and think its THEIR fault and you can never tell them that it isn't, they just wont understand.

[labels-are4tins.livejournal.com]

That is outrageous.
I don't drive myself but I fail to see how anyone can think sending or reading a text while driving is a sensible thing to do no matter how empty the road seems!

[rawnee.livejournal.com]

People have been imprisoned for much less and certainly for more than 16 days. Oh well, it's clearly not what you know but who you know!

[stuntpilot99.livejournal.com]

Hmmm....

The first time I heard of this was at the original sentencing which I thought was ludicrously light ... But then the details came out.

If I remember right, the other driver came spinning into his path, hit the central reservation, and ended up stopped facing the wrong way in the fast lane. If memory serves the other guy was held entirely responsible for the accident and his own death.

It was clearly established the chap was going to die anyway and our texting peer not to blame.

He wasn't texting at the time of the accident, but several minutes beforehand. He was presumably only caught as in the course of the investigation police will have checked phone records.

He was not jailed for manslaughter, but solely for using a mobile phone whilst driving. So the fact that someone died is entirely irrelevant as it was not connected with the court case, or his conviction.

So he probably did have his hands on the steering wheel at the time.

Oddly (as I rant enough about the system), I'm perfectly comfortable with both the sentence and the early release. Is jail an really an appropriate sentence merely for using a mobile? I've seen hundreds do it, and turn round to yell at the kids, eat a burger, shave, do their mascara, reach over for a tape that's fallen in the passenger footwell etc.

I know I've done a few of these types of thing, and I'm sure you have too.

So I actually think this is the justice system doing what it's supposed to for a change.

[rawnee.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. Perhaps I should have researched this a bit more before posting. Likewise I was unaware of the situation. I think, as a biker, you are more aware of hazards that car drivers just don't see and it tends to make you twitchy. Only the other day I saw some pleb in a brand new 4x4 talking on his mobile whilst driving through town. No biggy but he clearly had no control over his car as the hand that was holding the phone was also resting on the door so I can understand jail for using a mobile phone, but the more ludicrous accounts I have heard about people being fined for eating etc. cannot be justified by a prison sentence.

I'm afraid I have no faith in the law after the idiot who knocked husband off his bike was given £100 fine and 3 points on his licence. Hardly taught him a lesson when husband is now permanently disabled. I was caught speeding and got the same 3 points and a £60 fine! No, I shouldn't have been speeding but genuinely didn't see the signs on the dual carriageway telling me the speed limit was 40mph. No defence but thankfully I dind't hurt anyone.

Nevertheless I stand corrected and this discussion could go on and on....

[stuntpilot99.livejournal.com]

Definitely with you on the bike thing. I've always reckoned all car drivers should do six months on a bike first, and probably on an ongoing basis. It dramatically changes your driving style, and you still notice all the stuff you only start to realise on a bike.

Given the cost of prison, I think it far more appropriate to send this guy on a driver training day, then make him pass his *bike* test. Once he's fallen off, realised it hurts, and twigged just how vulnerable he is, I reckon he'd think twice before answering the next text.

Mind there probably is a fair chance that even though not to blame, he'll have it on his conscience for years.

It is remarkable the sixth sense you seem to develop for idiots about to pull out though, after a few years on bikes.

Faith in the justice system? Ha! Lots less than I once did...

Remember I mentioned the nice man who made me an ex biker for a few years who did a U turn into the side of my lovely almost mint bike? He was uninsured, no MOT, and the police were bringing a case of dangerous driving (not without due care, the worse one).

I duly took my day off work and turned up at court to give evidence, along with a couple of pedestrians who'd seen it. The police had "lost" all the paperwork, so all charges dropped.

[rawnee.livejournal.com]

So true, in fact I get quite edgy in the car because I don't have the same all round vision that I do on the bike. I've always said that, at the very least, CBT should be part of your driving test. It's all very well taking a theory test and clicking your bloody mouse when you think you see a hazard but it's not quite the same is it?

The lad who knocked my husband off his bike had just passed his test and was offered a new driver's version of the speed awareness course which he would have had to pay for but no points on his licence. He refused to do it and to have his day in court...then he put in a plea of guilty and received his 'punishment'. Two weeks later he was driving round in a new car!

How can the police drop the bloodyc ase because they 'lost' the paperwork. FFS!