Is this justice?

Read this article in the oxford mail last week. A woman killed a biker whilst driving the WRONG WAY across a dual carriageway. She was not given a custodial sentence due to her "good character and carer" from what I can gather.

http://archive.oxfordmail.net/2007/8/15/180733.html

This raises a few points in my mind
1) surely the punishment should be the same for anyone as all are equal in the eyes of the law, or so we are lead to believe
2) Punishment is meant to act as a deterant to others primarily, as two wrongs do not make a right - destroying another family by sending this woman to jail would not deter others as people do not intend to be stupid, so would a custodial sentence have achieved anything?
3) was the biker to blame in part for speeding, or do you feel it was entirely the fault of the woman.

The article doesn't include the diagram of the crash that the paper showed - I simply could not believe what she had done! it is even more stupid than the description sounds - she traveled the wrong way down a slip road to cross the carriageway to reach a gap in the barrier, which was for traffic traveling the other direction!

No it's not justice.

The prosecution can appeal if the sentence is 'unduly lenient'. Let's hope they do.

[Luckypants]

If that had been any one of us, not a member of the funny handshake club we would be in clink for sure. This person killed someone through gross stupidity or wilful negligence, seeing as how she 'missed' 9 signs telling her to turn left onto the dual carriageway.

It matters not that the person killed was riding a motorcycle or that they were speeding (nothing in the article to support that).

I think the language of the judge gives away the fact that he is protecting someone of 'his class'.

Very cross about this.

Originally Posted by Luckypants

If that had been any one of us, not a member of the funny handshake club we would be in clink for sure. This person killed someone through gross stupidity or wilful negligence, seeing as how she 'missed' 9 signs telling her to turn left onto the dual carriageway.

It matters not that the person killed was riding a motorcycle or that they were speeding (nothing in the article to support that).

I think the language of the judge gives away the fact that he is protecting someone of 'his class'.

Very cross about this.

i agree chap, very cross too. I have just read the online version, and it is slightly different from the printed version. The judge is quoted as saying the biker was "partially at fault as it is clear he was travelling in excess of 100mph". Cops reckon he was doing between 87 and 103. mmmm well I wouldn't speed if i knew people were gonna drive the wrong way down the road towards me!!! and then get away with it!

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by philbut

The judge is quoted as saying the biker was "partially at fault as it is clear he was travelling in excess of 100mph". Cops reckon he was doing between 87 and 103.

How do those two statements tally?? Cops give a speed range and the judge decides that is 'clear evidence' he was doing over 100???

Bloody judges, half of them live in la-la land I'm convinced of it!

[Biker Biggles]

I wonder how they get the speed of the bike?He clearly was not clocked by a camera,and I don't believe you can garner much from skidmarks in a high speed impact like this must have been.
This is clearly a case of class favouritism,and is by no means uncommon.An ordinary bloke who was not quite so "golden"would have gone straight to prison for that.
Having said all that,I am strongly opposed to the current fashion for locking people up for making mistakes simply because someone has died as a result.I believe that the crime is driving like a knob whether or not that causes a crash on that occasion,just like I believe that drink driving is a crime irrespective of whether you kill someone that day.Even more contraversially,I don't think "driving like a knob"should carry a prison sentence,unless you are a persistant one who can't be controlled any other way.Prison costs an absolute fortune,and does virtually no good at all,with only a small number of people really needing to be there.
Not many will agree I'm sure.

Think the Judge is a tit; I don't see how a motorcyclist can be in anyway to blame for someone driving the wrong way up a dual carriageway.
I don't see any point in jailing the driver though.

Just my tuppence worth.

I'm actually going to stick my head above the parapet on this and say "maybe".

No she didn't get a custodial sentance. But she given a 51 week prison sentance, albeit suspended. She was also banned for 4 years (quite a long ban) and 150 hours community service.

I don't think she did it maliciously therefore I don't really see what is to be gained from imprisoning her. She has got to live with what she's done. Assuming she is a medical doctor (I couldn't tell from the article) then she should have some idea of the value of life. She has been monumentally stupid and I think selfish but I would think that this whole experiance from being told what she had done through to going to court has probably been very unpleasant.

I think the thing that upsets me most is that she has probably been treated differently due to the fact that she is (probably) a respected (lets assume) professional and can probably afford a very expensive (and lets assume competant) defense lawyer.

I'm not a loonie left (or whatever they are called) and generally I would like to see the criminal system be tougher. But in this instance I think a suspended sentance, long ban and community service is perhaps reasonable.

I think if I made a mistake on the roads leading to the death of someone that would be bad enough. If I ended up in prison I think I would probably kill myself.

On the subject of the speed of the bike... (which I think is completely irrelevant to all discussions about this and therefore not commented on above)
... we don't know the details but it could potentially have been determined from something like traffic monitoring cameras. They might not be able to be used to proscecure you for speeding but that doesn't mean that you can't work out someone's approximate speed from looking at footage from one.

No, this is not justice. This is England, the best place in the world for murderers. How can you become 'confused' unless driving on the left is something you are not familiar with? As a qualified doctor, I am assuming she was at least 25 years old, and therefore had some knowledge of the road. You do not 'miss' 9 road signs. You IGNORE 9 road signs. This man dies because this doctor wanted to get to her destination early. Just because its a vehicle, not a gun, does not stop it from being murder, as when you are in control of a 2 tonne machione, you accept the responsibility for that piece of machinery's danger to others.

The judge was obviously NOT impartial, as he referred to her character, the judge is supposed to represent impartiality, not favouritism, and thereefore should have received an official warning for poor misconduct, but they won't, because their bosses are also in the funny handshake brigade. Maybe we should all join it?!

rhetorical question, he 'deserved to die, and was partially at fault, because he was speeding' !?!?! In that case, does a man who is carrying money 'deserve' to be robbed and stabbed at his door, as was the case with the rich london banker early last year? I don't think so, do you?