Wife Pleads For Mercy For Husbands Killer.

[Slick]

She is a better person than me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-65347531

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

And me!

 

[Drago]

Its OK, he still got a 16 month driving ban

 

[slowmotion]

Incredibly impressive. She didn't want some kind of revenge but realised that the court would have to consider any future public safety aspects of the case.

 

[Slick]

Its OK, he still got a 16 month driving ban

Yeah, we can all sleep well tonight.

 

[Cathryn]

What an incredible woman!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

To play devil's advocate - there does not seem to have been any ill will or recklessness

just inattention - which is bad enough in any vehicle and the heavier the worse it is

but prison or similar needs to be reserved for people who REALLY need to be off the streets until they can be rehabilitated (Yes - I know but.....)

so maybe not applicable in this case

and in any case using prison for revenge is not how this country works

still seems to me like a longer ban would be appropriate

 

[slowmotion]

I've made mistakes when driving. Who can honestly say that they too have not? Accidents happen. Fortunately my two only resulted in sub-5mph pay days for the local body shops.

People baying "His life was only worth this pitiful sentence?" miss the point.

 

[Drago]

but prison or similar needs to be reserved for people who REALLY need to be off the streets until they can be rehabilitated (Yes - I know but.....)

If I killed someone with my shotgun through mere inattention I'd never see a licence again.

This joker will be able to command a kinetic weapon again in 18 months time.

If the law isn't going to keep us safe from him by jailing him then it could at least have prevented his lawful access to the same class of weapon in the future, otherwise why bother with a trial at all?

 

[HMS_Dave]

"McGarry, if he had been looking, would have had 12 seconds to see Mr Smith - who was cycling a metre out from the verge"

"McGarry told police that the sun had been "in his eyes" and he had seen nothing until he had heard a bang."

"He simply didn't see Mr Smith. He accepts he should have seen him. But for whatever reason he did not."



Back on a road near you in 16 months....

Revenge is one thing, but if you think that is justice then i must be a martian... 👽

 

[Drago]

To play devil's advocate - there does not seem to have been any ill will or recklessness

Er, he didn't see Mr Smith because the fool could not see where he was going in the low sun yet made a conscious decision to carry on driving his multi-tonne weapon forward regardless for at least 12 seconds while blind.

That isn't mere inattention, that's willful, considered, deliberate recklessness, the very essense of it.

 

[Slick]

Er, he didn't see Mr Smith because the fool could not see where he was going in the low sun yet made a conscious decision to carry on driving his multi-tonne weapon forward regardless for at least 12 seconds while blind.

That isn't mere inattention, that's willful, considered, deliberate recklessness, the very essense of it.

Whilst I agree with your assessment on recklessness, I took the below comments as an excuse put forward by the defence and one that would have been quickly rejected. I may of course, have read far too much into that.

The court heard McGarry had been driving into the sun, but it would have had "limited impact" on visibility.
McGarry told police that the sun had been "in his eyes" and he had seen nothing until he had heard a bang.

 

[T4tomo]

I remember reading about this at the time

Is the widow a better person or blissfully naive? only the McGarry will know

If the sun really had a limited impact ( i assume they had dash cam, given it was a HGV) then maybe he didn't see because he wasn't looking. i.e fiddling with radio or phone or whatever.

I agree is probably inappropriate, he's not a risk to anyone else, but his HGV license should surely go for good? It may be a moot point as, reported elsewhere, he hasn't driven since the accident anyway.

 

[Jody]

"McGarry, if he had been looking, would have had 12 seconds to see Mr Smith - who was cycling a metre out from the verge"

That's not momentary lapse of attention whilst driving

 

[matticus]

It it was ME handing out sentences, I'd probably have given him a short-sharp-shock jail spell. (I don't believe long bans are any use, based on how many unlicenced+banned drivers are out there, and most of them have done very bad/stupid things)
HOWEVER, i don't get to decide these things, and the comments of the one person MOST closely involved are these:

Dr Maharaj said she knew that McGarry had "no intention to cause harm and was distraught when he realised what had happened".

She added that her husband understood people sometimes made mistakes and needed a second chance in life.

She said: "He would want Mr McGarry to find peace and move on."

Who the heck on this forum thinks they have the right to over-rule this statement?!?