This beggars belief! £35 fine.

[bonker]

This looks like a ridiculously low punishment. £35 and three points for killing a young man on a bike.

 

[glenn forger]

COMMENT FROM TOM'S FAMILY
Tom's aunt has been in contact and comments as follows:


"I could not agree more with your assessment. I am Tom Ridgway’s aunt, I attended the trial and – as I told the prosecuting solicitor – it felt to me as though a back-room deal had been done. All events leading up to the collision were dismissed without discussion. The prosecutor replied that he was new to the case that morning and he could not argue the charge, which had already been agreed. He added that we should complain if we wished to the CPS.
The family is not seeking further punishment for Mr Bhamra, who has lost his job and is depressed and suffering. He has paid his £150 penalty including costs and, like most reasonable people, understands that he was responsible for the death of a young man who was merely cycling ahead of him on the road. (Tom, a student, was on his way to Solihull to deliver his CV to New Look in the hope of getting a holiday job.) It is the law which has failed to us, by bizarrely dividing the event into Before and After Impact.
Although it cannot be proven that the taxi driver was driving carelessly before the accident, the fact that he hit and killed Tom is surely evidence enough that he was driving without due care and attention WHEN he hit him. The shattered windscreen, the subsequent panic, the death, are all part of a sequence of behaviours which killed my sister’s beloved son.
Many people, including the newspapers, are jumping to the conclusion that sentencing in this case was too light. But given the charge before them and the fact that Mr Bhamra was not proved to be drunk, drugged or speeding, the magistrates were directed to give the lightest level of fine. Indeed, the fact of Tom’s body being on the windscreen became a mitigating factor as the driver could not see where he was going, panicked and put his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake.
The point is not that hitting Tom caused Mr Bhamra’s erratic driving, but that Mr Bhamra’s erratic driving killed Tom. A distinction that would have been made in court if his case had been charged and prosecuted with proper respect for human life."

http://thecyclingsilk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/update-from-court-cps-v-bhamra.html

 

[glenn forger]

For some reason I thought they were travelling in opposite directions. The driver hit the cyclist from behind and killed him. Senseless.

 

[HLaB]

There been a few threads on this, all I can say is words fail me!

 

[cloggsy]

UNBELIEVABLE!

 

[ianrauk]

This looks like a ridiculously low punishment. £35 and three points for killing a young man on a bike.

Already posted HERE so will merge

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

Taxi driver fined £35 with 3 points on his licence after cyclist killed in collision.

http://road.cc/content/news/73826-taxi-driver-fined-£35-3-points-his-licence-after-cyclist-killed-collission

I'm speechless.

The taxi driver was lucky he was on a road at the time http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-21087633

 

[Pale Rider]

He sounds barking mad.

Could be, although it looks like he only started playing the mad card when he realised the court wasn't seeing the funny side of his jolly japes on the mountain.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

He sounds barking mad.

He might well be , but he didn't kill anyone.

 

[davefb]

I'm about to do the 'speed awareness course' as i got photographed doing 60 in a 50.. I'll have to pay 80quid.. I don't mind, I was speeding, I got caught..

But this , I just find impossible to fit in. It just seems there is no fair justice.

 

[Crankarm]

Equally, Police officers will tell you CPS lawyers are the dross and dregs who aren't good enough to earn £200 and hour I'm a private practice. Some of them are woeful to the point of embarrassment in court. Some of us police officers are also qualified to be solicitors (and will be when I finish my 30) so can see both perspectives.

I once witnessed a sexual assault in Sansford town centre on a Friday night. I gave chase, but being burdened with boots, body armour, peg, handcuffs, bag of doughnuts etc I didn't unite catch him. I did get within a few feet.

I positively id'd the male. He is of very distinctive appearance, being 6'5" tall with distinctive facil tattoos, and his mums name tattooed on his neck, all of which I clearly saw. Further more, on the previous Ddcade I had arrested this gent 14 times, including just the previous week. I knew him so well that when I went to nick him his Ma would let me in and make me a cuppa while he got dressed.

In addition to this, another bobby who knew this gent equally well but was not present independently confirmed his identity from CCTV.

However, the CPS wouldn't run it because it was a 'but dark' and I "may have been mistaken."

Dud you also know that in a modern ID parade (actually a video based process now) our offenders diatonctive tattoos have to be blanked out in the interests of fairness? So even if all the victims sees in the dark is mateys mums name nd DoB on a neck tattoo that evidence can't be used to identify him in a line up.

That's how much the CPS care bout justice. If it isn't a dead cert and then some they don't care.

I hope your performance as a copper/trainee lawyer is better than your spelling/grammar.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I mentioned this case to some prick down the pub the other night. Unbelievably the prick suggested that it was the cyclist's fault because "he wasn't taxed or insured"! I had to walk away before i did or said something that i'd regret!

 

[Pale Rider]

I mentioned this case to some prick down the pub the other night. Unbelievably the prick suggested that it was the cyclist's fault because "he wasn't taxed or insured"! I had to walk away before i did or said something that i'd regret!

Well, if you will drink with staff from the local CPS office....

 

[Accy cyclist]

Was the person you initiated the conversation with known to be a prick already? If so, why bother?

Well he's an anti cyclist. He always makes a comment when i take my bike into the pub such as "Can't afford a car so he comes on a pushbike ha ha". He got my back by spouting up(again!!) about us not being taxed/insured, so when i pointed out the story of the lad killed by the taxi driver i expected some sympathy for our cause. Instead the smug git said "well if you will use our roads without being taxed or insured what do you expect"and it was said with a smirk on his face as well. He probably knows how to wind people up to the maximum, hopefully one day he'll meet the one who doesn't choose to walk away.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

We seem to have the same attitude in this country to road laws that the US has to gun law.
The driving public needs to know for certain that what they do has repercussions.
At the moment you don't even need a days training, a license or insurance. It's just a bit of bad luck if you get caught.