Dangerous Driving

I wonder what kind of sentence this woman would have received if she had been tried in the UK because if I recall correctly, it's very common for 'reckless drivers' who kill fellow citizens, in this country, to be sent to prison for only a few years because they are never charged with murder.

Now the problem with 'murder' is that a conviction normally relies on a person being shown to possess intent to kill another person, but proving behind a reasonable doubt what's going on in someone else's mind is a very high legal hurdle to overcome.

Which is why there should be an equivalent punishment available without the need to prove intent, in circumstances someone has behaved so recklessly and foolishly that their actions result in the loss of another person's life.  

Woman jailed for driving with dying man on her car bonnet


Sherri Wilkins in court during sentencing Nick Ut/AP

By Tony Bonnici - The Times

A woman who drove for two miles through Los Angeles with a pedestrian she had hit injured and dying on her car’s bonnet has been jailed for at least 55 years.

Sherri Wilkins, 53, a former substance abuse counsellor, pulled over only when another motorist signalled for her to stop.

When she eventually stopped her car she smoked a cigarette as bystanders tried to help the injured man. He later died in hospital.

Wilkins was convicted in February of second degree murder, driving under the influence and leaving the scene of the crash that killed Phillip Moreno, 31.

During her trial Wilkins insisted that she was not drunk at the time, although she had had three vodka shots with beer and tomato juice.

It appeared to her that the man “came from the sky”, describing it as “like a blur of something, like a flash of something”.

“It was very shocking and very strange,” she said, adding: “I didn’t know what was going on... I don’t feel like I had hit him with my car.”

The Los Angeles Superior Court heard that she then drove through a Los Angeles suburb, swerving the car to shake Mr Moreno off.

Describing her “extraordinary callousness”, Judge Henry Hall denied her lawyers’ request for a new trial, saying that there was “clearly sufficient” evidence against her.

The victim’s niece, Alyssa Moreno, said: “Phillip died alone... That night will forever play in my head.”

Man Talks Sense (15 February 2012)

In all the words that are written on the subject of crime and punishment - an awful lot of it amounts to mumbo jumbo - not much makes common sense.

So it was with a sense of surprise and delight that I read some comments the other day - from the head of Scotland Yard's Road Death Investigation Unit - which cut through the usual verbal diarrhoea.

Detective Chief Inspector John Oldham callled for motorists who cause death on the roads - due to recklessness or negligence - to face much tougher sentences because the current penalties are too lenient.

Specifically, Mr Oldham suggests that road traffic and homicide laws should be merged - to create stronger penalties for reckless drivers found guilty of killing cyclists or pedestrians.

The police officer went on to say that the relatives of car-crash victims resented the very lenient sentences handed out now - when motorists have been shown to be  driving recklessly - arguing that such incidents are wrongly described as 'accidents' - when in fact they are the result of human decisions.

At the moment causing death by dangerous or careless driving - carries a maximum punishment of 14 years in prison - compared with up to life for manslaughter and an automatic life sentence for murder.

The maximum driving sentence is seldom used and - in any event - reckless drivers routinely serve only half their sentences after robbing some completely innocent person of their life.

DCI Oldham went on to explain that merging the current driving and homicide legislation would allow courts to deal with hard cases - where there is clear evidence of drivers behaving in a  reckless and negligent way.

For example by driving with a cup of tea in their hand - or after being on the road for 24 hours non stop. 

"In my particular world we get very upset by the word ‘accident’. For families there is no accident about it. An accident on the road is the result of the decisions people make." - said Mr Oldham.

How true - and it's high time that the punishment meted out to offenders - matched the gravity of their crime.

Reckless Killers (14 January 2014)

Imagine I had a gun and I decided to take it with me one day - as I went out to get blind drunk because of some bad news - a bereavment in the family.

Imagine I started shooting off rounds as I made my way home later that day - completely pissed - and one of the bullets struck a perfectly innocent passer by - killing that person stone dead.

Would I deserve life in jail for recklessly taking someone's life - through my own selfish, drunken behaviour - or should I expect five years and five months in the pokey - probably out in less than three years with good behaviour?

Because that's what has been meted out to a hit-and-run driver - Gerard McGougan - who swallowed a skinful during a nine hour drinking session in North Lanarkshire - before crashing his car into an innocent pedestrian - David Revells (33) - heading for a night out.

Not only that Gerard McGougan the fled the scene - leaving his victim lying dead in the street - and tried to defeat the ends of justice by lying afterwards about how much he had had to drink that day.

By way of mitigation the court was told that McGougan went on his mad drinking binge - after being told that his brother was dying of cancer.

Well so what - people get bad news every - and don't go to pieces and endanger other people's lives.

At least McGougan's brother would have got the chance to put his affairs in order - unlike David Revells who was run down by a drunk in charge of what amounts to a a deadly weapon - in the wrong hands.

To her great credit Gerard McGougan's wife called the police.

Gerard McGougan later admitted to the police that he had been in an accident - though he claimed at the time that he had drunk only one beer - before before the collision.

As things turned out a blood test proved him to be a liar - and showed that McGougan was found to be almost three times over the drink drive limit - the scumbag.

Now I know Gerard McGougan may have completely screwed up his life - he may even have lost his marriage and his job.

But so what - I'm not a social worker or his Fairy Godmother.

What I do have to say is that only 5 years in jail - out in three in all likelihood - does seem an incredibly lenient sentence for robbing David Revells of his life - and causing such mayhem to this young man's family.

I don't see why causing death by reckless driving isn't on a par with murder in certain situations - and this is one.

Now Gerard McGougan may not be getting away Scot-free - but to my mind he's being treated very lightly by our criminal justice system - which is just plain wrong.