To think this is unreasonable and this judge knowingly scentenced this man to death

[Sootyandsweep2019]

Just read a heartbreaking story in the paper about an 87 year old man, who given a 27 month prison sentence after he killed someone in a car accident. The judge was warned at the time by the man's doctors that this was highly likely to lead to his death; but went ahead and did it anyway. As predicted, he died nine days later. This was not murder, this was not malicious; it was a complete, tragic accident.

By all means ban him from driving if he was a danger, look at tightening the driving regulations around older drivers.

But our obsession with "making people pay," for genuine accidents has led to this utter tragedy .

The poor man must have been terrified. I really think this particular judge/ case needs urgent investigation; and we need a wider look at whether prison is always an appropriate response to car accident s like this.

Sadly I don't expect the judge/ CPS/ solicitors etc. Feel guilty at all.

YABU, he deserved to go to prison. Why was he driving in the first place? He’s pictured with a wheeled frame for god sake, he can barely walk so he has limited use of his legs

That's just it isnt it. I mean how does one decide one is well enough and capable enough to drive and go shopping and go through the stress of a court case but simultaneously we are meant to believe he is too sick to go to prison. Which is it?

@ForalltheSaints they don't plead guilty to dangerous driving. It's harder for a jury to convict someone without 100% certainty that they're guilty.

I don’t think you would feel this way if it were your relative who was killed. It really wouldn’t matter how old they were, you’d just want justice.

87 is very old, he probably shouldn’t have been driving. We all take responsibility as drivers as he did, he failed to drive safely and someone ended up dying as a result.

Rehabilitation is an important function of the prison system. But it’s not the only function. It also serves the purposes of retribution and deterrence

So OP where do you draw the line between accident and recklessness? Is it an accident if some waves a loaded gun around and unintentionally kills somebody or is it reckless? Because I fail to see the difference between that and somebody getting into their car, knowing that they are in no fit state to drive and mowing an innocent bystander down.

Thank you for clarifying the difference for me.

YABU - he deserved to go to prison. I think sentences for driving offences are far too lenient already.

If you wanted to make a point op about inappropriate prison sentences for tragic accidents, this is not the case by which to make your point.

Just read the article. God those poor women. It says that he has never apologised for his actions that day, didn’t plead guilty so the lady who survived and the family of the lady who died had to go through the ordeal of the trial on top of the agony they’d suffered. It’s hard to have any sympathy for him at all (for me anyway) and maybe if he’d taken responsibility for his actions things would have played out differently.

Yes let’s just let him get away with it because he’s old. He clearly shouldn’t have been driving looking at how doddery he is. He’s killed one woman and left the other with life changing injuries. Of course he should be sent to prison. It’s generally arrogance and stubbornness that keeps old people driving way beyond their capabilities. I dread to think what his reaction time would be. There’s no such thing as a genuine accident and jumping on the accelerator instead of the brake is not something minor. He then continued for another 100 feet after hitting the women and was only stopped because he hit a bollard. He got what he deserved. As for him dying in prison, well he was 87, he was always going to die at some point soon.

OP. Try using a dictionary to get the definition of accident. YABVVU (and I think you know it)

@onioncrumble have you been on the Sherry early?

And @mollibu and @maykid. Could you explain why you think it's a disgrace

I’ve prosecuted and defended many many careless/dangerous cases and multiple causing death by careless/dangerous cases, although none recently.

They are always tragic, of course because someone lost their life but in virtually all cases the driver is also devastated and severely affected.

Punishment is always complex: not least because unlike virtually all other crimes you’re punishing behaviour that would otherwise be considered pretty insignificant based on the consequences and it can be hard to reconcile that with fairness to all the parties.

E.g. careless driving might involve driving with headlights on full beam or driving too slowly whilst looking for a parking space. Dangerous driving might involve chastising a child or driving with a huge Christmas tree on your roof. In short the sort of behaviour that millions of brits engage in on the roads every day.

didn’t plead guilty so the lady who survived and the family of the lady who died had to go through the ordeal of the trial on top of the agony they’d suffered.

He did plead guilty, hence the reduced sentence.

I agree with everything @Taraohara said. Age does not immunised you against punishment. He killed someone.

Rather sickened by the YABU voters, hopefully they can explain why this was the best solution.

Well you've got your answer in bucket loads but don't think you REALLY want to know an alternative view point!

In the article I read, he also tried to blame it on a car malfunction immediately after the accident, so right from the get go, he was not accepting responsibility for his actions... disgusting that his first thought was for himself!

All my sympathy are for the 2 victims & their families & that certainly isn't him!

Showed absolutely zero remorse. So.

Tbh I think it will encourage more road users to get off the road due to health reasons. It is sad for all concerned he is responsible for a death.
They need retesting every 3 years over 65.
There is a similar case in Ireland the lady in question is now in a wheelchair with MS.
www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/driver-with-ms-who-killed-pedestrian-and-injured-three-others-jailed-1.4119505

Lefkosia, the man was undoubtedly told by insurance company, solicitor, police, not to contact the victim's family.

He didn't go out that day with the intention of killing somebody and I can imagine the fact that he did weighed heavily on him, he will have suffered as did the loved ones of the person he killed.

I sincerely hope if anyone I am close to is ever killed by accident, I will have compassion toward the person responsible. However, that is why we have a legal system in place which takes any decisions out of the hands of those involved who may not be able to see things clearly.

Putting such an elderly man in gaol didn't bring the dead person back, there was absolutely no point in that sentence.

he also tried to blame it on a car malfunction immediately after the accident, so right from the get go
To be fair, that is evidence that he actually did lack awareness that he wasn't fit to drive and I think there lies the problem. There's many a number of posts saying that he got in the car knowing he wasn't fit to drive, but I suspect he wasn't. He didn't think his anger would cause him to be reckless, he didn't think that his reaction times were so poor, he wouldn't be able to think quickly enough to remove his foot from the paddle and brake instead of accelarate.

His mental capacity meant that he probably was convinced that it could only be a fault with the car, and he probably continued to believe it despite pledding guilty when advise to, and why he never show remorse.

This is the biggest problem with older people driving, most genuinely lack complete awareness of the danger they are as they still hold on to the belief that they are capable do to wisdom.

But it doesn't change anything to the case. Lack of awareness, often the result of an over exaggerated sense of arrogance about one's own ability is not an excuse to avoid the consequences of that mindset.

Putting such an elderly man in gaol didn't bring the dead person back, there was absolutely no point in that sentence

I really don't understand this view. There will be many elderly people reading about this, who hopefully will be thinking 'could this have been me'? Should I be thinking of giving up driving because I don't want to face these consequences.

In any case a sentence doesn't always have to have a point beyond facing hardship as a consequence of having caused much worse hardship to an innocent party.

Something that made a difference in this case was the element of negligence in his actions leading up to the woman’s death.

Anyone can catch edge of the wrong pedal with their foot. That itself could fairly be described as an accident. Taking the entire train of events into account added up to his charge, conviction and sentence.

@Emeraldshamrock
That case is shocking, she should never have been driving! She wanted to be independent well that young man wanted to live. Only suspended her licence? Should be removed. Selfish selfish woman.

Putting such an elderly man in gaol didn't bring the dead person back, there was absolutely no point in that sentence.

By that reasoning nobody should ever go to jail as it won't 'bring the dead person back'. Age is not an excuse not to follow the law.

Putting such an elderly man in gaol didn't bring the dead person back, there was absolutely no point in that sentence

There was every point, sentences serve as a deterrent to others as well as punishment for the offence.