Cyclist left needing 24 hour care while nobber carries on delivering milk

[Mrs M]

Unbelievable!

 

[glenn forger]

He was found not guilty of that charge by a jury of his peers - people like you and me.

Nope. In these cases there is no requirement to have people like us on the jury, so they are likely all motorists, all with a likely probability of having taken a shortcut, cut a corner, sped, driven on the wrong side of the road. The juries in these cases have an investment in downplaying poor driving, an emotional bias toward forgiving behaviour they may well be guilty of. Think of it like a black person being tried in apartheid South Africa, the bias is inherent in the system. Juries think"There but for the grace of God".

 

[Tin Pot]

It's not scandalous at all.

Stop reading the daily mail , and miraculously, the world seems a better place.

 

[Pale Rider]

Nope. In these cases there is no requirement to have people like us on the jury, so they are likely all motorists, all with a likely probability of having taken a shortcut, cut a corner, sped, driven on the wrong side of the road. The juries in these cases have an investment in downplaying poor driving, an emotional bias toward forgiving behaviour they may well be guilty of. Think of it like a black person being tried in apartheid South Africa, the bias is inherent in the system. Juries think"There but for the grace of God".

Pure speculation, so here's some more:

The jury in this case took their public duty seriously, listened to the evidence, applied the law as directed by the judge, and came up with what they consider to be the correct verdict.

 

[Low Roller]

Without defending the guy, it makes you wonder if it was the same thing that caused the captain of the Titanic to freeze into inactivity, the sheer trauma of the incident causing the bizarre behaviour. Oh , and also that captain of the Italian cruise ship.

I hope the cyclist is as well as he can be, and I am sure you all feel the same.

 

[Crankarm]

As the judge said, he was given the maximum sentence possible under current law (fine, points, max 6 months jail if serious) and guidelines (no jail spaces so community service or suspended sentence). Put the blame where it belongs, at the feet of the politicians and law makers.

Your response is bollox as you contradict yourself, he wasn't given the maximum sentence as he is NOT in jail nor AFAICS was he disqualified from driving. Fined £3k, 70 day suspended sentence and 70 hours community service. By your own admission he could have got 6 months jail, his conduct was suitably aggravating to warrant this, but he wasn't sent to jail. He was only given 70 hours community service. He could have been given anything up to 240-300 hours. Neither AFAICS was he disqualified from driving. He did not call 999 immediately after he hit the cyclist which ANY normal person would have done even one in shock. You hit some one who is then lying pretty dead like or seriously injured in front of you, you call 999 for an ambulance. Period. The comments he was said to have made by the witness immediately after are pretty damning revealing Reid's true state of mind but the Crap Prosecution Service did not charge or seek to obtain a suitably severe charge e.g. reckless or dangerous driving. The message this case and the courts, the criminal justice system give is that IT IS ONLY ANOTHER CYCLIST. Absolutely pathetic.

There are countless other cases like these where cyclists have been seriously injured or killed - incompetent police, weak and or incompetent prosecutors, incompetent judges, prejudiced juries - jurors all drivers thinking "There go I but for the grace of God" we'll let him/her off or only give the driver a slap on the wrists or let them off.

Eidlih Cairns case - terrible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15354914

About 6-7 years ago Peter Robinson cyclist was killed out right after as he was hit head on by a car in Somersham Cambs that was over taking another. Driver claimed SMIDSY and got a pathetically lenient sentence which was appealed to the CoA by the family of his Estate. Don't know what happened as all searches in local rag in which it was originally reported don't bring up anything. Erased from memory.

The criminal justice system and courts are littered with cases where the law has been brought into disrepute where seriously dangerous drivers have got off or been given shockingly lenient sentences by incompetent judges.

I have no doubt the status quo will continue. Remember, it is only a cyclist. The carnage and slaughter goes on. Drivers will lie through their teeth to avoid being prosecuted or convicted.

 

[Crankarm]

It's not scandalous at all.

Stop reading the daily mail , and miraculously, the world seems a better place.

Errr ……. I don't read the Daily Mail. We do however have something called freedom of choice, freedom of expression. freedom of the Press. Are you suggesting that people shouldn't be entitled to this? Are you a Fascist?

 

[steveindenmark]

I dont like what happened but there is more to this than meets the eye.

It will not be the end of the matter either. I am sure that a compensation claim will be in the pipeline and now he has been found guilty that can end up to be massive.

I cannot see where it says the cyclist did not have lights. But if that is the case and he was riding down that straight on a dark February morning, he was an accident waiting to happen and has to take the responsibility for that.

I did not know there were still Milk delivery men in the UK. But we all knew they drove on the wrong side of the road some of the time for practical reasons. Who has ever told a Milk floatt driver to get on the correct side of the Road ? Not me.

 

[Pale Rider]

he wasn't given the maximum sentence as he is NOT in jail .

The only imprisonable offence of which he was convicted was leaving the scene.

On any view, it was not a serious offence of that type - after leaving he reported the crash at a Post Office within 10 minutes.

The judge cannot say: "I am locking you up for leaving the scene (when I should not) because of a different offence you did earlier."

It doesn't work that way, nor should it.

 

[hobbitonabike]

He reported the crash at the post office within 10 minutes continuing his round!! What an angel! He wasn't alone, he should have stayed with the person he had just ploughed into and sent his workmate to the postie to call for an ambulance if neither of them had a mobile which I find unlikely! What sort of person leaves an injured person lying in the dark to finish his milk round??? I am sure his customers would rather he looked after and potentially saved the life of another human being than getting their milk there on time!! Yes shock can do strange things to people but to walk away from someone saying I think he's dead is unbelievable and pretty much unforgivable in my eyes.

 

[Jon George]

I await the next series of Dave Gorman's 'Modern Life Is Goodish' with relish - there is a great Found Poem in some of these comments.

 

[Tin Pot]

Errr ……. I don't read the Daily Mail. We do however have something called freedom of choice, freedom of expression. freedom of the Press. Are you suggesting that people shouldn't be entitled to this? Are you a Fascist?

Yes.
No, but if it stops people reading the Daily Mail I'll be anything you want.

 

[Low Roller]

I read that internet trolls will be imprisoned for two years. It was on the front page of the Sunday Mail on the newsagent's stand so it must be true. That sort of sentence seems slightly incongruous in the light of this thread, sticks and stones and all that.

 

[jefmcg]

http://road.cc/content/news/116773-...eaving-cyclist-brain-injuries-guilty-careless

Only slightly different, but still a different take. A very confused elderly gentleman reacted poorly to a terrible situation. My feeling is not that he should be jailed, but that he is no longer mentally well enough to drive even a milk float on public roads.

I'm wondering he is showing early signs of dementia.

 

[Banjo]

My take is if you ride in the dark use lights.

We cant keep whining about drivers breaking the law then conveniently overlook it when cyclists do.