Someone I vaguely know is going to jail

[Samscity]

An article was circulated in a WhatsApp group chat today of someone we went to university with. He was involved in a hit and run and killed the person and then handed himself in. He's now going to jail

I think it's so scary how someone's fate can change so dramatically in a heartbeat. I feel it's shocking and so devastating that someone died. I don't know the guy that did it well at all, just saw him at a friend's flat party etc never spoke to him.. but just all very unnerving

I'm surprised at the levels of sympathy for hit and run drivers on this thread.

It's a pretty serious crime.

I'm not sure where you are getting 1% from but you are wildly off. Current stats show 27% of adults have a criminal record thats 1 in 5 people.

Yes. This is why I don’t get the negativity towards non drivers on here. Many people are anxious and would be in a terrible panic in a stressful situation, however many people on here still think that everyone should drive these dangerous machines. If people haven’t learnt, there’s likely to be a very good reason, and no one should feel forced into it.

I know a few people sent to prison

A parent at nursery who killed his mother. Used to chat to him at pick up.

An accountant at my work who stole 7 figures.

A politician who committed arson when drunk.

I nearly ran someone down on a zebra crossing because something distracted me on the pavement. I nearly hit a cyclist but didn't because I saw him in my mirror before I turned . I am now extra careful when I'm driving , but I steal feel panicky when I think of what could have happened. Lessons learned.

Hmmm,I entered it into google and it showed how many people had been arrested per year.
but now I see the flaw in my reasoning 🤦‍♀️
but for fucks sale- that’s extremely high 😱
so, back to my point, I am white women and I think we’re not highest group for arrests or offending - and a third of those criminal offences are related to the to license fee. Which is a fucking disgrace- it shouldn’t be a custodial crime as has been said over and over.

@Prisonbreak nope sorry!

Really? I don't know anyone (apart from an assistant lecturer who was at my uni but never had any dealings with). I don't think it's THAT common...

There’s a big difference between sympathy and empathy 🤦‍♀️
empathy is a recognition thst many of us have experienced situations that have bought it home to us that our instincts are so,e times not that ethical
or noble
but I presume you know you’re someone who will be super calm and controlled if you accidentally knocked someone flying?

Really? I don’t think I do.

This. I have no sympathy whatsoever for the driver. None at all.

I'm no spring chicken nor led a privileged life, but I honestly don't know anyone who has been to prison.

My neighbour used to childmind her granddaughter who would be in her pram on the front path in the summer months. One day, a car skidded, crashed into a tree which demolished a wall and the tree ended up in a bay window. Thankfully the mum had a day off so the child was at home. Had it been the week before the child would’ve been killed

I definitely know one ex-con. Neighbour in a naice neighbourhood, all very respective, had his house raided and was jailed for dealing drugs. Would never have thought it of him - two young kids too.

I hit a young girl once years ago. I was driving in town, two lanes of traffic. I was in the right hand lane. I was moving but slowly, 15-20 mph but the left lane was at a standstill. All of a sudden, this girl came straight out in front of me - she had crossed the first lane and kept going. I screamed a couple of obscenities and slammed on the brakes. I managed not to hit her as such but she literally walked into the car and fell in the road.

I never once thought of driving off! I leapt straight out of the car to make sure she was ok, I took her into a nearby chippy to get her a drink of water, and then I left her home (had to make arrangements to get my DC collected from nursery).

I also hit a cat once. It came out of nowhere and darted across the street. I braked but the best I could do was not drive the wheels over it. It ran off and hid crying (so was I, I adore cats) but when I tried to find it, it ran across in front of another car, and disappeared. I knocked on doors nearby to see if I could identify an owner but it could have come from anywhere.

So, no, I don't understand why anyone's first instinct would be to flee, unless they'd been driving under the influence.

*respectable not respective!!

I had a job where part of my role was to process DBS applications, some roles called for enhanced checks where everything is disclosed from cautions through to prison sentences. Some people on here would be surprised at just how many people have had encounters with the Police and ended up with a record. Of course we did not take any of the minor stuff into account and in many ways it is horrible that something someone did as a teen will still be showing up decades later. Everything has to be declared at application stage but of course checks still have to be run.

Yes , but in segments of that population that % will be much higher.

So it follows that in other groups it will be much lower.

People don't wear it on a badge.

You probably don't know about it.

Also, what's the definition of 'people you know' here? Is it people you would invite to dinner at your house?

Or is it the son of the headteacher you had when you finished school in 1994?

The corner shop person who serves you once a week when you buy your scratch card. You've seen him once a week for ten years.

You're not going to know that your hairdresser's mother got done for shoplifting in Boots when she was 21 back in 1972, are you?

The accountant at your husband's work (40 person office) who left in 2017 was later arrested for fraud at his next job. Your husband always included him in the tea round and vice versa.

Your dog walker used to deal drugs (prescription painkillers), that's why he was struck off as a pharmacist and now does dog walking.

None of those people are going to tell you, what they did.

At church, after the service, "By the way, did you know I was arrested for flashing in 2006?"

You see the name 'Richard Smith' in the Little Bumblebury Herald in 2014. You're not going to connect it to your new boss's brother Richard Smith in 2023. And they're not going to shout out, "Nine years ago my brother was caught drunk driving and had his license taken away." He crashed into a lampost no other cars nearby. No-one injured, but he got breathalysed when the police came. He couldn't run away because the accident jammed the door shut and he had to be cut out by the fire brigade.

I've been arrested, locked overnight in a cell, tried & convicted (got a fine) of theft. Of a pint glass. From a pub. As a student.

I'm respectable! Unsurprisingly, "have you ever been arrested?" is not a normal conversation topic. You know people who have, even if you aren't aware.

There's a big difference between being super calm and controlled and actually fleeing the scene though.

The former is understandable. The latter is unforgivable.

(I've been in quite a number of dramatic situations so I do know about decision making in a crisis. Most recently I stepped in to rescue someone who was being attacked. I have also intervened several times when I have witnessed sexual assaults, and administered first aid on a number of occasions/helped with rescues... In all those scenarios, yes there were people who just looked the other way...)

@Appleofmyeye2023

but I presume you know you’re someone who will be super calm and controlled if you accidentally knocked someone flying

I have no idea how I would be.

My experiences of RTAs as a passenger, witness, first aider would suggest most likely.

That doesn't change my surprise at the levels sympathy/empathy/excusing of hit and run drivers on this thread.

It's a pretty serious and awful crime. Abandoning the scene of an accident. Failure to render first aid. Failure to get help. Pretty awful.

PP suggested that it was very unusual not to know anyone who had been arrested or imprisoned. Possibly the milkman’s cousin’s hairdresser is dodging tax, but I don’t know them (or even of their existence). As others have mentioned only 1.2% of the adult population have ever been arrested, and far fewer imprisoned, so it’s perfectly normal not to know anyone who has been.

My uncle killed someone (not an accident). His family had to flee so he didn't go to jail. My cousins' life wasn't completely messed up, but it wasn't minor. He's now in jail as he was caught when he tried to claim benefits :/

And the vast majority will be for non-arrestable and non-imprisonable offences. Mostly speeding.

Most speeding offences won't appear on your criminal record.