Trevor Morley's Tache
Well-Known Member
Aye, just read that. I was under the impression causing death by dangerous driving was maximum 14 years but that's dangerous driving without the death bit.
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Nine years and four months for 3 lives
- Thread starter jimharri
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meltonblue
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It's always been a mystery to me, so hopefully there's someone on here with a legal career (solicitor, lawyer, judge, magistrate etc) who can explain; what purpose do concurrent sentences actually serve, apart from being on the person's record? I can't see the point of them.
It’s so the sentence can reflect the overall criminality. Concurrent sentences tend to be given when it’s offences that occurred in a single incident (like this one).
jimharri
Moderator
Thanks. Still not a fan of them, mind. Radical suggestion here; if they (yep, them again) want the sentence to reflect the overall criminality, why not impose a sentence that does just that? Yeah; I know. Crazy, right?It’s so the sentence can reflect the overall criminality. Concurrent sentences tend to be given when it’s offences that occurred in a single incident (like this one).
meltonblue
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Thanks. Still not a fan of them, mind. Radical suggestion here; if they (yep, them again) want the sentence to reflect the overall criminality, why not impose a sentence that does just that? Yeah; I know. Crazy, right?
That is what they do though! Or are you saying you think the sentence for this one for example should have been much much longer?
I guess it'll have something to do with him showing genuine remorse and not being a bad person, just a stupid boy making a very stupid and costly mistake. In the end, it's up to the legal system to balance the severity and malice of the offence against how much of a valuable member of society he could be in 10 years with a bit of prison time and discipline. It's emotional because those three young lads are never coming back, but I guess the law exists to take emotion out of it - as cruel as that sounds.
I was down in Faringdon and Abingdon recently for a friend's 25th wedding anniversary, nearby to where this crash happened. Those country roads between Swindon and Oxford are unexpectedly dangerous at night - they're wide open and there are long, long stretches with no traffic lights in places. Sadly, it's easy to see how a bunch of lads doing NOS on a weekend could get giddy and egg the driver on a bit to try and "top a ton" as the game goes. It's no excuse, it's just probably what happened, and I guess it all gets taken into consideration.
A similar thing happened in Cheadle in 2016, if anyone remembers? A lad from my old school - Declan Blackburne his name was - got killed in a police chase. He was the passenger of a car that was speeding along Bird Hall Lane in Stockport at about 3am. The police spotted the car and chased it - the car hit 70mph on Councillor Lane, hit that S-bend outside the Spar, and careened straight through a lampost and into a tree. The driver literally ran away from the scene without a scratch while Declan was trapped in the car and died two weeks later.
The driver had traces of cocaine and cannabis in his system when he turned himself in the next morning. He got given six years but only served three, from memory. He got time off his sentence in the end because he was genuinely remorseful (in the judge's eyes) and had turned himself in. Three years behind bars for something like that is never gonna feel like enough but I guess there's just a precedent and a consensus that's been developed over time. Declan's never coming back and neither are these lads, though.
I was down in Faringdon and Abingdon recently for a friend's 25th wedding anniversary, nearby to where this crash happened. Those country roads between Swindon and Oxford are unexpectedly dangerous at night - they're wide open and there are long, long stretches with no traffic lights in places. Sadly, it's easy to see how a bunch of lads doing NOS on a weekend could get giddy and egg the driver on a bit to try and "top a ton" as the game goes. It's no excuse, it's just probably what happened, and I guess it all gets taken into consideration.
A similar thing happened in Cheadle in 2016, if anyone remembers? A lad from my old school - Declan Blackburne his name was - got killed in a police chase. He was the passenger of a car that was speeding along Bird Hall Lane in Stockport at about 3am. The police spotted the car and chased it - the car hit 70mph on Councillor Lane, hit that S-bend outside the Spar, and careened straight through a lampost and into a tree. The driver literally ran away from the scene without a scratch while Declan was trapped in the car and died two weeks later.
The driver had traces of cocaine and cannabis in his system when he turned himself in the next morning. He got given six years but only served three, from memory. He got time off his sentence in the end because he was genuinely remorseful (in the judge's eyes) and had turned himself in. Three years behind bars for something like that is never gonna feel like enough but I guess there's just a precedent and a consensus that's been developed over time. Declan's never coming back and neither are these lads, though.
East Level 2
Well-Known Member
It might given that some people believe certain marques imply a pre-installed driving style. It's bollocks of course, and in many cases a BMW with a certain engine size is no quicker than a Ford or Vauxhall or Skoda with a similar engine and power output. However BMW make some very high powered cars and it's reasonable to question the parents if they bought him one of those.Would the car have made a difference?
jimharri
Moderator
Absolutely. Nine years (probably out in six), for killing three people by his reckless actions? Do you think that's a just sentence?That is what they do though! Or are you saying you think the sentence for this one for example should have been much much longer?
meltonblue
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Absolutely. Nine years (probably out in six), for killing three people by his reckless actions? Do you think that's a just sentence?
I don’t think that him killing three vs one should make much difference to the overall sentence, his criminality was the same.
Whether the sentencing guidelines for death by dangerous driving are too lenient, personally I err on probably not but I get why some would want to see them be longer.
I err on not personally though because of cases like this. His actions have killed three of his friends, left him with life changing injuries and him being sentenced to over nine years in prison. He’s going to subsequently live with both his injuries and the guilt of what he’s done for the rest of his life. I’m not sure what the purpose of having an extended sentence to the one he got would serve. Prison is there as a deterrent to others, a punishment to the individual and to protect society from potential subsequent actions.
Personally I’m comfortable with the level of deterrent the sentence provides, the punishment he personally is going to receive at the expense of us as taxpayers vs the punishment he’s going to live with subsequently and given the situation with this particular one, the risk of reoffending, which I think is low to none.
3 lives ended, 1 life ruined. It’s tragic and I feel for all the parents involved in particular.