|
Date
|
Brief Outline
of case
|
In court
|
the accused
|
Sentence
|
|
January
2008
|
Case_1, aged 45, attempted to overtake three vehicles including a van, on a country road, when her car hit a family car head-on. A 19 year old girl was killed, her mother had to have her leg amputated from below the knee, her three sisters had broken legs and her one year old daughter had a broken ankle.
|
The judge said that this “ill-
fated manoeuvre” according
to the jury’s verdict, had not
fallen below the standard of
competent driving deemed
dangerous. She had continu-
ed overtaking even after
becoming aware of
oncoming headlights.
|
Pled not guilty to dangerous driving
|
£1500 fine
18 month driving ban
|
|
January
2008
|
Case_2, aged 19, caused a
collision at a junction of a
main trunk road killing a
motorcyclist, aged 44 years
|
The sheriff said that the off-
ence was at the “high end”
of the careless driving scale.
|
Pled guilty to careless driving.
|
Case_2 had previously six
penalty points and had to resit his driving test for a road traffic offence. He had passed in March 2007.
£400 fine
3 months driving ban
|
|
February 2008
|
Case_3, aged 22, a newly qualified driver admitted
causing the death of his 16 year old passenger.
|
“the case was first and foremost a tragedy for the family of the deceased.”
|
Pled guilty to dangerous driving
|
3 years custodial sentence
5 year driving ban
|
|
March
2008
|
Case_4, aged 65, pled guilty to careless driving when he crashed head on into a patient transport vehicle causing the death, two days later, of a man aged 83.
|
The family had been told that Case_4 had crossed the white line in the centre of the road.
|
Pled guilty to careless driving.
|
£800 fine
8 penalty points
|
|
March
2008
|
Case_5, aged 59, attempted to pass a long queue of traffic which led to a head-on crash killing two and leaving a 14 year old, brain damaged requiring 24/7 care.
|
The sheriff heard that Case_5 had twice made
overtaking manoeuvres to pass a long line of traffic. The defendant’s solicitor said that Case_5 was “dreadfully sorry.”
|
Case_5 appealed the “harsh” ban. He said “when some one pulls out and is driving to close, they get 3 points and £60 fine and that’s what I should have got”
|
£600 fine
2 year driving ban
|
|
March
2008
|
Cases_6,7 & 8 aged 21, 19
and 18 drove at 90 mph on
an A road, repeatedly over taking each over resulting in a 7 car pile up which killed 3 people and injured 3 others.
|
The temporary judge said “cars are not toys, they are potentially lethal weapons”
|
All three had admitted causing death by dangerous driving
|
6) 10 years custodial sentence and 15 years driving ban
(he had only just regained his license 4 days earlier after a ban for drink driving)
7) 8 years and
14 years driving ban
8) 13 months detention
5 years driving ban.
|
|
May
2008
|
Serial driving offender Case_9, aged 39, hit a pedestrian when he drove at 55 mph in a 30 mph zone. Case_9 had previous convictions for both careless and dangerous driving.
|
The judge said “Your failure to take appropriate care led to the death of an innocent man, visiting this country.”
|
Pled guilty to
dangerous driving
|
3 years custodial sentence
5 year driving ban
|
|
May
2008
|
A Licensing board chief councilor crashed his car on an A road. He twice failed to give a breath sample to the police.
|
|
Pled guilty
|
fined £200
for careless driving
fined £200
for failing to stop
and £500 for refusing
breath tests
2 years driving ban.
|
|
May
2008
|
Case_11, aged 21, lost control when doing more than 50 in a 30 mph limit, killing his 18 year old passenger. A surviving passenger (who suffered a fractured vertebrae) had told him to “slow down.”
|
The judge banned Case_11 from driving ahead of sentencing and told him “this is the sort of offence which attracts a sentence of imprisonment.”
|
Pled guilty to causing death by
dangerous driving
|
2 years and 9 months
custodial sentence
|
|
May
2008
|
Case_12, aged 22, over-
took, on the wrong side of
the road and on a blind
summit, and crashed into a
car resulting in the death of 5 people.
|
The judge said “Three of the
victims were members of
one family .. impossible to comprehend the suffering your actions have caused the survivors.”
|
Pled guilty to causing death by dangerous driving
|
2 years and 4 months
custodial sentence.
10 years driving ban.
The judge took into account
an appeal for mercy from
the mother of one of victims.
|
|
July
2008
|
Case_13, aged 66, was driving home from a post-round lunch and drinks, when his car swerved across the road hitting a car killing the driver aged 70.
|
The sheriff said that Case_13 was well aware he suffered from sleep apnoea which had been diagnosed several years before. Despite being under the drink drive limit his actions were “unforgivable.”
|
Admitted careless driving and
“nodding off.”
|
£5000 fine
5 year driving ban
|
