Drink-drive nurse who killed teen cyclist in hit and run sentenced to five years four months in jail

What has this terrible accident

That was not an accident, accidents are completely unforseen random occurrences. This was a road traffic collision caused by someones error or omission.

Bez said :
" Regardless of the jail term (do we have details of which charges garnered what sentences?), every other aspect of the prosecution process and legal definition continues to send out the message that death on the road through even the most abject ineptitude, incapacitation and irresponsibility is something that society continues to regard as neither horrific nor exceptional."

When you consider that during the past 10 days , ALL reportage of the " Boston Marathon Outrage ", appears to concentrate on the health and circumstances of the surviving perpetrator , it should come as no surprise that the Media , cares nothing for ANY VICTIMS !

Only today CNN , showed WWPinc troopers , visiting those Hospitalised , total of 15 seconds ! Even a mention of the Boston Victims Fund , passing $20 Million , total of 10 seconds . Piers Morgan mentioned 41 still in Hospital with 17 of them Amputees , perhaps 20 seconds out of an hour long programme .

Piers demonstrated the lack of " Newsworthy Content " that Victims present .

The Victims HAD LIVES , not only them but THEIR Families and Friends are impacted by these Accident/Incidents . I for one , would like to know their BackStory ! Is that being " Nosy " or is it not normal to want to learn how their LIVES have been disrupted through on fault of their own ?

BIG DEAL , that money is being given , DO THE VICTIM'S want Money OR Their LIVES BACK ?

As for the " CPS " , the sooner that these people become part of the " REAL WORLD " , perhaps have the misfortune to lose " Loved Ones " , then , and only then will they treat Cyclists as vulnerable , and entitled to JUSTICE , when harmed !

A young person dead! Killed (no, MURDERED) by a self indulgent woman with no feeling or compassion for any other person but herself. She should have been inprisoned for a minimum of 20, years.

5, years if far too lenient a sentence.

"She would have had about two seconds to react." - she was driving too quickly then.

I'm going to write this for those people who are like my girlfriend, who find it hard to hear this stuff. This is a sad event and very avoidable.

Cycling is not the safest sport. If you want safe, drink pints and throw darts. But it is a healthy sport, a healthy and enjoyable activity, one that I love.

These reports, while enlightening to those that care about road usage and the troubles that do beset cyclists DO NOT represent those of the average cyclist. We're not being killed everyday by sadistic motorists and the risks of cycling are VASTLY outweighed by the benefits. Reading about these events is an exaggeration of the minority of what happens with cyclists. People commute everyday using bikes, people exercise everyday using bikes and people cycle everyday of their adult life without being killed.

These articles are about delivering justice for cyclists and ensuring that the justice system protects cyclists.

My deep felt sympathies for Luke and his family.

What has this terrible accident got to do with nurses denying care and compassion? The profession of the driver is a red herring,she was under the influence of alcohol which impaired her ability to drive!

Simply awful for the victims and their families.
Simply appalling behavior by the driver. How the counsel could make excuses "she only had two seconds to react" - why? I can't believe, guess it is just mitigation (and poor at that) for an act she did not set out to commit, but things went horribly wrong, and compounded by the failure to stop at the scene.
This person should never be allowed a driving licence again, and possibly needs alcohol counselling which could be usefully done whilst in jail and able to focus and consider on what happened on the dreadful day.

She got in a car whilst over the drink drive limit then killed someone, to me that's murder pure and simple if you drink get the bus.

I have a notion that a manslaughter charge would get you a 12 year sentience of which you would have to serve at least six.

Why was she treated so leniently?

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/h_to_k/homicide_murder_and_manslaughter/#involuntary

to quote

Unlawful Act Manslaughter

Once these points are established the question whether the act was dangerous is to be judged not by the appellant's appreciation but that of the sober and reasonable man and it is impossible to impute the mistaken belief of the defendant that what he was doing was not dangerous: R v Ball 1989 CLR 730.

pretty clear the drivers actions can be caught in this, she drove after drinking, as any sober person would tell you a pissed person is a risk to those around them. Drink driving is an unlawful act. She would have known she had been drinking so intention is there.

But yes we pay lawyers/barristers/judges/politicians lots of money to sort these things for us, problem is they are also car drivers....

I don't see any mention of a driving ban in the article. This woman should never be allowed behind the wheel of a vehicle again. I doubt if a lifetime ban was imposed.

Horrible, horrible case. Sympathies with the families of both kids and the young lad who lost his pal.

Just as nurses are denying they lack care and compassion, this has to happen, a sheer disregard of all human feeling.

Sorry I meant Sam's family. At least Luke us still alive.

Bez is right. I too do not understand the difference between careless and dangerous driving. It's like being careless with a gun. Careless IS dangerous surely regardless of what provisos and nuances you use to separate the two?

My sympathies to Luke's family. One life over at 15 and others wrecked.

It's clearly not murder, and it's not manslaughter either; as should be clear from reading the criteria and guidelines for the prosecution for each.

It is, however, another shining example of how the relatively new "death by careless driving" charge repeatedly gets in the way of the toothier "dangerous" charge. The CPS seem pathologically incapable of bringing, or unwilling to bring, a dangerous charge in so many scenarios where the driving and related actions of the accused is patently dangerous - not just by any reasonable lay definition, but by the CPS's own guidance. Quite why this is the case is frankly beyond me, and also beyond plenty of other people who have a more thorough grasp of the law than I do.

Never mind the fact that describing the act of consuming four alcoholic drinks and then driving a car and killing one child and injuring another as "careless" is absurd in extremis and is demeaning to all involved.

Regardless of the jail term (do we have details of which charges garnered what sentences?), every other aspect of the prosecution process and legal definition continues to send out the message that death on the road through even the most abject ineptitude, incapacitation and irresponsibility is something that society continues to regard as neither horrific nor exceptional.

The fact that she removed his bike from under her car, then continued on her way leaves me very cold.

It's up there with affectionless psychopathy- no regard that she's just killed another human being.

Insane behaviour and the juditial system didn't pick up on it.

This still feels quite lenient to me.

tsk dear oh dear, she'll be out in three years. Teh previous poster is correct. This is murder imo.

The slaughter goes on ...

better than nothing, but really she drank, she got into a car, she didn't intend to kill someone but she did, no different to manslaughter.

Why should drivers face different charges?