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You're on fire this week NowWheels, you've said a couple of things that have made me question my points of view.
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Midlifecricis - If I drive my car across your patch (I live in Scotland) with no documents and my car is not on the MIB database, but registration ties up with the name and address I give and I have a bus pass (photo ID) does common sense prevail or do I get my car siezed.
Edited by Old Navy on 07/10/2008 at 13:42
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I don't see what relevance the car being in your name and address has to do with it. Lot's of uninsured cars are registered to the driver.
If it's during the day, we'll ring your insurance company. If we have any doubt, we will give you a producer. If we're sure..you might just need your bus pass. :)
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Thanks Midlife, worth knowing, as I was insured but off the database for a week. I dont think my bus pass works that far south!
Edited by Old Navy on 07/10/2008 at 14:03
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one of the reasons someone will not receive a maximum sentence for pleading guilty is the fact they've acknowledged their guilt...one part of the process
and... not put witnesses, victims through the trauma of having to give evidence
or.. not cost the state a serious amount of money to have a full trial
there will always be discounts for a guilty plea
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Although I don't know him, I'm sure that he didn't jump into his car with intention of taking lifes and maiming. Hence I suppose the justification for a discounted sentence.
I'm dismayed though that the balance of punishment has lost out to our continuum of rehabilitation. No matter how sorry he is, no matter how much tax he will pay in the future, the actual time he serves seems paltry to the horrific outcome of his actions.
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Can you clear this one up Westpig. Did he plead guilty from day one of arrest or actually in court after all the evidence and witnesses had given evidence. If the latter then it was a move to get a lower sentence at the last moment. A tactic many scrotes use.
And I can give you an example where I was called as a witness at a RTC involving a police traffic car. The fault lay with the idiot who crashed into him. On the day of the court case I and 3 others witnesses arrived at court. Only to be told, he had pleaded guilty so we were not needed. A whole waste of everybodys time if only he had pleaded before it went to court. He too got off lightly, because he admitted the charges. Too late in my book. Still should have got the full penalty.
Edited by scribe on 07/10/2008 at 15:46
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His punishment is effectively for life, whether behind bars or not. His club fired him, he almost certainly has no other work experience or skills, and he's banned from driving for the forseeable future. Plus he's a marked man, recognisable in the street and might have to move well away from his present area. He might end up missing prison once he's released.
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can't see it SM...the football industry is not exactly well known for standing on its' morals. I'd imagine that once he's nearly out his agent will sort himself a deal with a club that urgently needs a goalkeeper...and that will be that
..and having come from a Championship Club that usually end up mid table, if not a bit higher, i should think he'd still be worth a bit as well...3.5 years, or even sooner sometimes, isn't that long even if footballers have to retire early
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Unless the young man is very callous indeed he will feel guilty about this for the rest of his life.
Some football players are well-rounded, relatively mature characters. Others, who may have done nothing but play football competitively to further their careers since childhood, are really still adolescent in their mid-twenties (and not just footballers actually). Someone who still needs to be helped, advised, reassured, scolded and when necessary frogmarched by his parents, paid a massive salary and released in the company of other rich and irresponsible young men and women, can easily get into the sort of absurd trouble this chap got into and cause a tragedy. A sort of sign of the times.
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While speed was a factor, surely tiredness and alcohol where bigger influences.
Plus the fact the range rover is very safe and the toyota had little or no safety features.
its to easy for the press and police to focus on the speed when it was not the main issue.
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The speed and mass of the RR had a lot to do with the fatalities. IIRC, the Toyota was rammed off the road, down a bank, into trees. Trees don't have crumple zones. RR are only safe in the mind of the deluded, especially at high speeds.
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Scribe,
Sorry, don't know, but i'd agree with you to a point.
Full 'Sorry, I'm Guilty' right from the word go should be the most leeway.
Last minute reluctant 'I'm Guilty', a little bit of leeway (easier for victims/witnesses and cheaper)
'Not Guilty' and found Guilty should be have the book thrown
Trouble is, there are considerably worse people floating about in our society than this chap. There are far worse offences committed than what he did, which do not receive 7 yrs impt....
Personally i think the sentence was about right, for once...it's just that some of the others ought to be for more. Bottom line was incredible foolishness and maybe arrogance, whilst not thinking straight through alcohol and worrying about a domestic matter...needed to be severely punished for the consequences, (I can't imagine what the family of those two kids are going through)..but not as bad as Rapists, Child Molesters, Burglars who deliberately prey on the elderly and then the elderly lose the will to live or are too scared to leave their homes (think what that must be like), etc, etc all committed by people INTENDING to do it and do not ordinarily give two hoots about others, pay nothing back into the State..absolute complete worthless scum
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In reply to Scribe's post on pleas.
Far as I know, the footballer pleaded guilty at the first opportunity he had when the charge was put at a preliminary hearing at crown court - no witnesses would have been called that day.
In general terms, your experience as a witness is sadly typical, may defendants will maintain not guilty pleas in the hope the witnesses do not turn up and the case collapses.
When trial day comes and they're told the witnesses are present, plea is changed to guilty.
This applies particularly in neighbourhood violence cases were everyone knows each other and the witnesses are fearful of reprisals.
Your RTA guy doesn't sound too bright because the chances are the witnesses were not local to him, so he wouldn't be able to exert any influence over them.
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Very bad idea. Parole has two very important functions: it gives prisoners an incentive for good behaviour in prison making prisons safer and more manageable places ... and it gives prisoners a real motive to reform their approach.
You're right. Without parole, convicted drunk drivers could well continue to drink drive, threatening the safety of fellow inmates. Okay, I am being facetious, but there is a point to be made. Clearly in some cases, such as drink driving, the person would most probably be be well behaved anyway.
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