Johnson, of Sandleford Lodge Park in Thatcham, Berkshire, admitted causing death by careless driving.
He denied dangerous driving, which prosecutors alleged had happened when he drove afterwards with a shattered windscreen. The charge was ordered to lie on file.
The defendant did not enter pleas to being the driver of a vehicle and failing to stop after a road accident and being the driver of a vehicle involved in a road accident and failing to report the accident. Both charges were not proceeded with by the prosecution.Why not? It's not like he wasn't bang to rights on both, after all....
Ian Bridge, mitigating, said Johnson was "desperately sorry" for his "momentary inattention" to the road ahead.And his efforts to conceal his crime? Is he 'sorry' about that too?
Judge Peter Crabtree OBE sentenced Johnson to a 12-month community order, under which he must carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and pay £250 in prosecution costs. He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.*speechless*
H/T: MisanthropeGirl via Twitter
All I will say is this - while it seems in this case the cyclist had working lights (although some said they were faint), it is high time that cyclists were cracked down on for not having lights. I've lost count of the times I've had to take last minute evasive action to avoid a cyclist riding without lights - had I hit one I'd be in this van drivers position, but no-one ever does anything about the twats who ride around without lights.
ReplyDeleteSighs wearily in reply to Sobers. A long time ago we asked our local population (on a VERY quiet outer London Borough)what they thought local police priorities should be. As any police officer will tell you the main priorities in any such consultation always come back as 1) Street lighting 2) Dog shit 3) Litter 4) Lights on pedal cycle 5) Speeding (as long as they were not prosecuted). As a result of this our local sergeant and his merry people went out and happily summonsed people for no lights on pedal cycle. The result? All the cases were dismissed at court by the local bench who said 'why are you wasting our time?
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There was rare unity in the comments until someone pointed out that dead guy might also be partially to blame for having a weak rear light .
ReplyDelete@Retired: that just shows what sort of twats get to be on the bench.....
ReplyDeleteA good bit of work by the police officer who spotted the damaged van. Disgraceful outcome in the court. It’s about time lay magistrates were abolished and replaced with professionals working to a strict penalty code approved by the local community.
ReplyDeleteThe CPS had to submit reports as to why a case was thrown out. These were usually lengthy but in the case of our local court 'Smalltown on Thames bench, perverse decision' was all they needed. I'm no great fan of the lay magistracy as they can tend towards the pompous and patronizing.
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"...it is high time that cyclists were cracked down on for not having lights..."
ReplyDeleteIf it's the law for cars, why should it not be the same for bikes? I'd expect to be pulled over. So should they.
"The result? All the cases were dismissed at court by the local bench who said 'why are you wasting our time?"
Perhaps they should have shown the bench a few death scene photos to stiffen their backbone?
"There was rare unity in the comments until someone pointed out that dead guy might also be partially to blame for having a weak rear light ."
Partially to blame for the crash, maybe. But the actions of the driver on fleeing the scene were unexcusable.
"A good bit of work by the police officer who spotted the damaged van. "
Indeed. An element of luck too. Round here, he'd be a very busy boy! It's rare I see a van that doesn't bear scars from the appalling state of the roads and the other drivers on them.
"...but in the case of our local court 'Smalltown on Thames bench, perverse decision' was all they needed."
Perhaps I should aspire to the magistrate's bench when I retire?