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Remember the little girl who died on a quadbike?

51 replies

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 20/10/2008 16:41

Her dad just admitted manslaughter, and has been sentenced to nine months in the jail.

Suspended for two years.

That'll be a smack on the wrist, then.

OP posts:
lilymolly · 20/10/2008 16:43

dont you think he has been punsished enough?
He made a very stupid mistake.
Lost his very precious dd
What would time in Jail do to help anyone?

expatinscotland · 20/10/2008 16:44

would you feel the same if the woman who hit her, lilly, a stranger, had been the one in the dock?

sentencing for deaths involving motor vehicles are a joke in the UK.

forevercleaning · 20/10/2008 16:44

poor man has lost his adored little girl. he has a life sentence already.

Jail makes no difference. He did not set out to murder her, and if i believe reightly it was not him that killed her, just allowed her to be in a dangerous situation.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 20/10/2008 16:44

Time in jail is of very little help to most folk, doesn't seem to stop the courts sending them there.

OP posts:
bobsyouruncle · 20/10/2008 16:45

the consequences of his actions have been much much more than a smack on the wrist for him

littlelamb · 20/10/2008 16:47

Agree wth you expat about sentences being a joke. My aunt and cousin were hit by a car last year and both died. The boy who did it (and he was a boy, 17 years old, just passed and driving recklessly) got off because he had done an advanced driving course and therefore must have been a careful driver. Got away completely scot free, not even a point on his license , and even when waiting his trial was free to drive around in the meantime. A JOKE

FAQ · 20/10/2008 16:47

I think the same as lily - and expat if the woman who had hit her had been in the dock charged with manslaughter I would be totally

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 20/10/2008 16:51

The consequences of his actions have been much more than a smack on the wrist for his daughter, too.

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 20/10/2008 16:52

instead of a guy who was so irresponsible with his own child, FAQ and then took her home rather than to a hospital when she was struck by a friggin' 4x4?!

and he's banned from riding quad bikes on public roads for 2 years?! boo hoo. anyone that stupid should have had a lifelong restraining order not to come within 10 feet of a quad bike at all whatsoever.

what about the poor lady who hit her? think her life isn't a prison, too?

wotulookinat · 20/10/2008 16:53

Littlelamb, that's awful!

lulumama · 20/10/2008 16:53

he did a stupid and dangerous thing, and his daughter paid a terrible price. yes, i think he should go to prison.

so, he will be punishing himslef for ever but if she had been killed due to the actions of anothr, i doubt he would wnat anything less in terms of punishment

it should also be deterrent to others, not simply a punishmnet, might make other paretns think things through more

2shoesdrippingwithblood · 20/10/2008 17:08

I don't think a prison sentance would have served any purpose, he is an idiot who will have to live with this for the rest of his life.

lulumama · 20/10/2008 17:59

so becasue his negligence meant the death of his own daughter, he should not be punished?

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 20/10/2008 17:59

I was shocked that the father was being taken through the courts tbh. I dont think that any sentense would have been "good enough" for everybody - it was have been too lenient (as people think this is) and people would have been shocked if he had gone to prison.

We have all done stupid things that we regret, where you look back and wonder how bloody stupid you were and what you were thinking. Most of us get off without any consequences, and somethings, through our mis-actions, somebody gets hurt.

The daughter has lost her life, the father is never ever going to be able to forget this, and I dont think there will be a day that goes by where he doesn't regret what he did. He was stupid, he was reckless, he caused the circumstances surrounding his daughters death.

I do think in general that punishment for things like this is too low (for eg the man who killed the two little boys, it isnt a long term for what he has done) but I doubt there is a loving parent out there who would believe that jail or any punishment would make them feel as if they had paid their debt to society if they had caused the death of their child.

MadameCastafiore · 20/10/2008 18:02

Right so you do something stupid and one of your kids die as a consequence and the fact that you have lost that kid and will punish yourself for the rest of your life is ok. That's it, case closed?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO - he should be punished FFS!

PortAndDemon · 20/10/2008 18:04

"it should also be deterrent to others, not simply a punishmnet, might make other paretns think things through more"

So a parent who can't cope with the concept of "no, I won't do this incredibly stupid thing, because it is dangerous and my child might be killed" is instead going to reason "no, I won't do this incredibly stupid thing, because it is dangerous and my child might be killed and then I might go to prison"? Do these other parents think "Nah, I'll risk my child's life like this, because if they die I'll probably get off with a suspended sentence".

nailpolish · 20/10/2008 18:08

he broke the law. the law is there for a reason. he SURELY knew the law about quad bikes. he decided to ignore it.THEREFORE he should face the consequences

if someone was guilty of manslaughter and my daughter had died as a consequence i would expect them to be jailed

wouldnt you?

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 20/10/2008 18:10

I did ask on a thread a while back if anybody knew what the wife thought about this.

I'm not saying its okay because he is going to feel guilty (there are plenty of people who break the law who simply dont give a monkeys about what they have done, except how it has affected their life) but I dont know what would have been suitable to punish him.

nailpolish · 20/10/2008 18:11

if someone killed your child wouldnt you want them to be jailed?

pagwatch · 20/10/2008 18:14

actually I think it is consistent withthe way raod death is handled in this country.
It was years ago but my SIL was killed by a driver overtaking onthe other side of the road ploughing into her.It left my nephew with lifelong disabilities.
The driver fled the scene and my SIL lay on top of her sister ( who was concious) for half an hour before they were found.

He received a fine.

People killed by drivers never get justice and road deaths are always treated as accidents regardless of whatever level of recklessness is involved

CrushWithEyeliner · 20/10/2008 18:16

What a fucking fool, my God did her Mother know this was going on? The poor child.

PortAndDemon · 20/10/2008 18:17

Would sending him to prison make him less likely to do it again? No

Would sending him to prison deter others rom doing the same thing? No (see my previous post)

Would sending him to prison cost the taxpayer one heck of a lot of money? Yes

Do we actually have any spare space in our prisons? No

If he were sent to prison then it would serve no useful purpose, and it would take the father and husband (no matter how fuckwitted he may be) away from the wife and son still reeling from the death of their daughter and sister.

I think something non-prison related might be more appropriate -- say a lifetime driving ban (as he clearly has no concept of road safety). Or community service if there were something appropriate.

He broke the law and therefore needs to face the consequences, yes. In our legal system those consequences can include a suspended sentence. There is no mandatory minimum sentence for manslaughter.

Whether I would want someone jailed who killed my child should be irrelevant to whether they actually are jailed. That's why we have a system of state-administered criminal law rather than a system of vigilante justice. It should be still less relevant to whether someone who kills someone else's child under different circumstances should be jailed.

I cannot think of one single useful purpose that jailing this man would achieve.

ElfOnTheTopShelf · 20/10/2008 18:19

If a stranger killed my child, I would want to be able to rip them to pieces with my own two hands.
But, posing a question, if your husband (or another famiy member) was driving with the children in the car, speeding 5-10 mph over the limit, got in an accident and one of your children was killed, how would you want them punished?
I know that the whole being on a bloody quad bike (I hate them) think is different, just posing the question.

lulumama · 20/10/2008 18:35

massive difference between what happened here and a genuine, non negligent accident

had anotehr child been killed as a result of this man;s negligence, would we still be saying 'no room in prison/ it's not a deterrent'.. i doubt it

yes, he is suffering, but why? because of his own negligence. the woman driving the other car must be in pieces, two families torn apart for a few moments of crass stupidity

nailpolish · 20/10/2008 18:36

i really cant compare that, Elf, with letting a child go on a road on a quadbike