to wonder if it's a lesser crime to drive over someone nobody loves?

[Juells]

Judge Rhys Rowlands said:
*"Any accident which results in someone losing their life is the most appalling tragedy, the more so when the deceased, as here, was well loved and, as I have indicated already, a pretty remarkable woman."

Am I being really really really picky to have reacted negatively first to the headline - "Driver who killed mother of Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman jailed for 30 weeks", then to the judge's comments? As if the woman's worth depended on being Chris Boardman's mother, and being well-loved...and even for being remarkable?

What if she was someone no-one gave a shit about?

No, I agree with you.

YANBU.

It’s a similar thing when a child is murdered & in the news. Comments such as “oh, and she was so pretty too. What a shame.”

I think it's nitpicking. The judge is making a sympathetic point in the knowledge that this death affects a lot of people.

I agree with you. My stepdad was run over and killed last month. He was loved and lots of people turned up to his funeral.
It would have been just as tragic if it had been somebody living alone with no family or friends. Perhaps even more so.

the Point he’s making is that some crimes ruin many lives not just the victims.

Of course that didn’t make it ok to murder people with no friends and family.

The crime of killing a person is the same whoever dies - new born baby, mother of dependant children, elderly recluse or mass murderer. A life has been taken.

But the impact of that crime is greater if the person had close family, dependants, played a pivotal role in the local community etc.
The death of a recluse would have less impact.

The judge is just stating the truth.

I suspect his point is not that the crime is worse but that it’s impact is greater.

So stealing an item from the shelf of a chain store is just as much a criminal act as stealing from the family owned corner store but the impact to the corner store is greater.

If you steal my handbag it’s upsetting and annoying and would make me very angry.

If you steal from the rather frail, not very wealthy pensioner down the road she might never be brave enough to step out of the door again.

It’s the same crime but the impact isn’t the same.

What williteverend99 said.

He even says the crime is equally appalling in the first line too. It's a comforting line at the end of a horrible tragedy. I honestly cant believe anyone woukd have an issue with something that might bring comfort to some loved ones. Really weird

Similarly, OP, I always struggle when people die, near, or at Christmas and people exclaim that it’s so tragic because of the closeness to Christmas. It seems to imply to me that death at any other time of year is not so ‘tragic’.

Dear god that's not the implication. Again the death is equally tragic....the impact on other people can be very different. And at Xmas with constant reminders of loved ones and family it can affect people in a greater way.

Dear god that's not the implication.

Not for you.

YANBU. I agree.

A body was found on a bypass near us and the press reports made it sound like it didn't really matter because it was a homeless man with no known relatives. It was so sad to think he was someone's brother / son, and his family wouldn't know he had died

I thought this too when I read it. Makes the judge sound horrid.

"Here is the news. 3 Britons and 112 other non entities we killed in a plane crash in Peru today...."