Driver who killed cyclist freed from jail

[Alien8]

From Cambridge News 25 September 2009:

Driver who killed cyclist freed from jail

A PRO golf coach jailed for causing the death of a cyclist near Fenstanton is free after his sentence was overturned.

Cyclist Mark Robinson, 32, of Rectory Lane, Somersham, died after a horrific head-on collision with a Ford Focus.

The car was being driven by 25-year-old golf coach Matthew Rice on Low Road last November. Rice, of Peartree Close, Fenstanton, admitted causing death by careless driving in July.

At Peterborough Crown Court a month later, he was jailed for 20 weeks.

But on Wednesday, following an appeal to top judges, Rice's sentence was overturned and suspended, allowing him to walk free from prison immediately.

Mr Justice Irwin, sitting with Lord Justice Hooper and Mr Justice Underhill, said a probation officer who assessed Rice had recommended that any prison sentence be suspended.

Rice had been travelling along the narrow, unlit country road behind a Fiat Punto and another vehicle in the moments before the tragic smash.

He told police he pulled into the right-hand lane to begin overtaking the cars, but that the Fiat Punto, second in the queue, had also pulled out and he had then followed.

The driver of the Punto then spotted Mr Robinson's cycle coming towards her and pulled in, leaving Rice confronted with a cycle heading directly for him and no opportunity to avoid a collision.

The impact threw Mr Robinson from his bike, causing multiple injuries. Mr Robinson, an experienced cyclist who rode about 13,000 miles a year, was pronounced dead at hospital shortly afterwards.

In a victim impact statement, his partner told how her heart had been "ripped out" at the moment that Mr Robinson died.

But, in Rice's favour, he was described during his sentencing hearing as a man of "exemplary good character" who had never been in trouble with the police and who had shown "deep" remorse.

Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Irwin said that, had Mr Robinson survived, even with devastating and life-changing injuries, the maximum penalty Rice would have faced would have been a fine - as the other driver received.

He added: "The recommendation of a pre-sentence report was that any prison sentence should be suspended.

"It is not clear that this proposal was given active consideration by the judge."

Rice's two-year driving ban was also cut to one year as he needs to be able to drive in order to carry out his work as a golf coach.

Didn't quite get the bit: "The driver of the Punto then spotted Mr Robinson's cycle coming towards her and pulled in, leaving Rice confronted with a cycle heading directly for him and no opportunity to avoid a collision."

There was an opportunity to avoid the collision, ie by only overtaking when safe to do so.

The whole just thing turns my stomach.

 

[Brain_biter]

I agree it is just crazy the way the law treats people who do this kind of thing, of drink or drug drive, but at least here in Scotland things are moving in the right direction.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8259142.stm

Granted it has not been well publicised yet but hopefully this will make drivers think a bit more carefully.

 

[Grendel]

A shockingly bad decision. The law should be changed if that is all it allows.

 

[numbnuts]

Rice had been travelling along the narrow, unlit country road

so it was OK to over take then

 

[snorri]

"needs to be able to drive"

 

[mattybain]

OMG, that is just so absolutely unbelievable.

Can't believe he is not only released from Prison but is allowed back on our roads!!

The cyclist he killed needed to live for his job so why should this idiot be allowed to risk people's lives to do his??

 

[lit]

*

 

[mattybain]

I think you need to re-read the paragraph you quoted before commenting on it.

Why?? his defence makes no sense whatsoever, surely if the Punto saw it wasn't safe to overtake he should have seen and pulled back in as well. He presumably either didn't see the cyclist that the Punto saw or thought he could make it. Either way he killed someone and shouldn't really be allowed to drive again.

Ok I can understand the prison sentence thing a bit, but letting him back on the roads after 1 year, people get more when they don't actually cause an accident!!

Where is the logic and sense in this?

 

[ChrisKH]

So he overtook another car in tandem with another car. How dangerous is that! There is something seriously wrong with the Judiciary in this country.

 

[wafflycat]

Words fail me.

Other than, I've said this before and it seems more and more clear. Should one want to commit a murder and effectively get away with it, use a car as the weapon. After all, killing someone with a car is treated as some sort of minor inconvenience, and certainly the poor driver should not be forced to face any sort of major disturbance to his/her life.

Stuff like this makes me so ANGRY.

 

[2Loose]

Cyclist killer gets treated much better than a shoplifter by the courts - AGAIN.

Shocking decision, but seemingly increasingly common. Where is the justice in this country. :'(

 

[karlos_the_jackal]

The law is not correct in this case aswell as the enforcement of the law itself.

Regardless of whether he is a cyclist or not there is no real protection for road users against other road users.

I know lots of people who haven't been involved with the police but still drive in an unsafe manner.

 

[wafflycat]

Kill someone with your car and you are effectively let off. No prison sentence.

Contrast with this:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8274635.stm

"A man who drove his Rolls Royce into a Tesco supermarket in Hampshire has been jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for five years.
Winchester Crown Court heard that Robert Caton, 50, of Cusden Drive, Andover, had a grudge against the shop over a failed delivery of a mattress.
Six people were injured in the incident on 20 May and it cost more than £20,000 to repair the damage caused.
Sentencing the judge called Caton's actions an "appalling act"."

Whilst I have no problem at all with the sentencing of the driver above, contrast it with the cyclist case.

Damage property, get jail time.
Kill a cyclist: get no jail time.

The justice system in relation to death by errant motorist is seriously f**ked up.

 

[Corvette chic]

Words fail me.

Other than, I've said this before and it seems more and more clear. Should one want to commit a murder and effectively get away with it, use a car as the weapon. After all, killing someone with a car is treated as some sort of minor inconvenience, and certainly the poor driver should not be forced to face any sort of major disturbance to his/her life.

Stuff like this makes me so ANGRY.

+ 1

 

[BrumJim]

Although to be fair, pre-meditation is always regarded as more reprehensible than a moment of rage/lack of attention.