Causing death by dangerous driving

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Tue 5 Dec 2006 14:23
Causing death by dangerous driving - graham woods
Hi Every-one. An 18 year old, who used to work for me delivering pizzas is in court tommmorow, at the crown court, for this offence. I beleive that he his pleading guilty. Apparently, he was racing some-one up an hill at 47 mph in a 30 mph speed zone. A 60 year old stepped out in front of his car, and was hit with such force, that he was killed instantly. The driver stopped for a moment, then drove off, up the road for about 1000 yards, before stopping, must have had second thoughts, and then drove back to the scene of the fatality. The second driver did not stop, he did not hit the person that had been hit by the first car. He is also being charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and pleading not guilty. What is the minimum sentence that is likely to be handed out by the court. Thank-you for your thoughts on this tragedy. p.s. No drugs or alcohol where involved by any of the drivers.
Thank-you. Graham Woods.
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Tue 5 Dec 2006 14:30
Causing death by dangerous driving - Lud
Sad story. Poor boy, poor victim, poor victim's family, poor boy's family.

The fact that he returned to the scene should count in his favour.

Very few of the pizza deliverers I see round here should be allowed to drive anything over 50cc. Indeed even that seems too much sometimes.
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Tue 5 Dec 2006 14:30
Causing death by dangerous driving - PatrickO
www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section9/chapter_b.html#16

www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/docume...e

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Tue 5 Dec 2006 14:33
Causing death by dangerous driving - rjr
www.brake.org.uk/index.php?p=675

Disqualification for a minimum of 2 years.

Between 3 and 11 points on his licence.

Imprisonment for up to 14 years (maximum penalty is rarely applied).

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Tue 5 Dec 2006 15:13
Causing death by dangerous driving - Cliff Pope
It's an interesting example in our legal system of shared responsibility for actions, even if only one person is the one actually wielding the weapon. I'm thinking of the famous police murder case by two young people years ago - one shouted "let him have it" and was old enough to be hanged, the one who did it was under age.

I think it is true that the "accomplice", as it were, need not actually have been driving to have committed an offence. He could have been a passenger giving encouragement to the driver.
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Tue 5 Dec 2006 15:23
Causing death by dangerous driving - Dwight Van Driver
Authorities are cracking own on this offence, quite rightlyIMHO.

From what stated, little or no mitigation, highly probable that a term imprisonment will be awarded if found guilty.

dvd
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Tue 5 Dec 2006 15:27
Causing death by dangerous driving - local yokel
The Brake link suggests that racing = higher culpability, and that equates to a sentencing guideline of "Higher culpability":

4. When the standard of the offender?s driving is more highly dangerous, the appropriate starting point would be a sentence of two to five years. The exact length would be determined by the dangerousness of the driving and by the presence of other aggravating or mitigating factors."

His guilty plea will be taken into account, and may have a reducing effect, I think of one third. He's likely to get a term of two to three years on that basis, given the above.
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Tue 5 Dec 2006 18:05
Causing death by dangerous driving - graham woods
Thank-you all for your comments on this subject. Once a sentence is given out, I will post it on here with the details. Thanks again. Graham.
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Wed 7 Feb 2007 20:06
Causing death by dangerous driving - Vin {P}
Just bumping this up the page to see if we can find out what the result was.

V
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Mon 26 Mar 2007 14:41
Causing death by dangerous driving - Group B
What is the minimum sentence that is likely to be handed out by
the court.


Did you see "Anatomy of a Crime" which was on BBC2 on Friday night?

An 18 y.o. lad in a Fiesta XR2, he admitted driving through some roadworks at 50mph (in a residential area); straight after the roadworks he lost control on a corner, clipped an oncoming car then mounted the pavement and hit a pedestrian, knocking her 25m through the air and killing her.
He was charged with Death by Dangerous Driving, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 4 years in prison plus an 8 year driving ban.
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Mon 26 Mar 2007 15:04
Causing death by dangerous driving - graham woods
Hi there rich 9-3 , Yes i did watch this. It has very similar tones to this post. The court case for this is set for may 5th. As soon as i know the outcome i will post an update on here, it is a 3 day trial, what they do for 3 days is beyond me. Cheers, Graham.
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Mon 26 Mar 2007 15:10
Causing death by dangerous driving - graham woods
Hi there vin, Just saw this message, sorry for no reply earlier as i did not see it, and i have been in india for a while on hols. This case was adjourned until the 5th of may i believe, as one of the defence witnesses was ill and could not attend. This was the earliest time that the court had, as it is a 3 day trial. As soon as i have any news i will post an update on here, Thanks again, Graham.

{The outcome of this thread can be found HERE - DD}
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