Thought this might get some reaction...

Woman gets six month ban for biker deathBy Visordown NewsNo prison sentence, fined £200, ordered to pay £60 costs and a £15 victim surcharge - is this what we call justice?
A WOMAN who killed a motorcyclist after swerving her car into him whilst reaching for a tissue in her car’s passenger door compartment has been banned from driving for just six months. According to reports in today’s Telegraph newspaper, Lisa Badham-Moore, 35, veered into oncoming traffic when she took her eye off the road to reach for the tissue.

She ploughed her Vauxhall Astra into Laurence Higgins, 54, who was riding his motorbike, killing him.

Badham-Moore admitted driving without due care and attention at Spalding Magistrates’ Court.

After the case Mr Higgins’ widow, Kay, 47, who had tried unsuccessfully to have the case taken to the High Court, said she was outraged by the sentence.

She said: "I’m disgusted with both the charge and the sentence because justice hasn’t been done.

"Her barrister said she has got to live with this for the rest of her life, but she’s not the one living in a house without her husband.

"A lot of people try to portray motorcyclists as being speed freaks, but Laurence had been a motorcyclist for 30 years on and off and had never had an accident.

“He was driving very carefully, and that was confirmed by someone he had overtaken just before.”

Badham-Moore, of Gedney in Lincolnshire, was also fined £200 and ordered to pay £60 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

I can’t believe that she didn’t get a harsher sentence when she was reaching for a tissue in the passenger door compartment:w00t:

Edited: Lusty 01.07.08 @ 9:19

now that is truly shocking

Outrageous! But I think she was charged/summonsed with the wrong offence…

You can’t go to prison for driving without due care and attention. I have no idea why she wasn’t charged with death by dangerous driving. To get a conviction for death by dangerous driving the prosecution has to prove that they caused the death of a person by dangerously driving a mechanically propelled motor vehicle on a road/in a public place. Dangerous driving is defined as driving far below the standard expected of a competent and careful driver and it would be obvious to a competent and careful driver that driving in that way would be dangerous… I would have thought it would be obvious to anyone entrusted with driving a car that reaching into the passenger door to get a tissue is dangerous…

Maybe one of my traffic colleagues can offer any reason why the CPS wouldn’t charge with death by dangerous?

That is absolutely awful.

I’ve noticed that a lot of sentences for a variety of crimes reported on TV lately seem to be really short. Have judges been told to relieve prision overcrowding by handing out shorter sentences?

Well at least we all know that if we ever need to murder anyone, we only need to drive into them and get a small fine and a short ban.

for once, Im speechless.

I would be more shocked if I hadn’t come across this kind of thing before in relation to spinally injured bikers. Usually it’s family connections, status (check the double-barrelled name) and some kind of side by the judiciary. I’ve seen a couple of equally shocking decisions that have effectively robbed crippled bikers of their rightful compensation, one in regard to a magistrate’s wife and the other caused by a well connected woman… “the car was too big for the poor girl, it’s not her fault she couldn’t control it”. Seriously.

I think this is awfull but you have to see the bigger picture. Although this woman now has to live without her husband which i cannot begin to imagine the pain. The driver of the car made a mistake. A genuine simple accident with the worst possible outcome. What would be gained by locking up a young/or old woman for such a reason? Surely the thought of taking someones life will be torture for her enough?

My freind had an accident over a year ago where he was driving his works van home! he hadnt been drinking but unfortunately skidded on loose gravel and somehow ended up meeting an oncoming car. The driver of the other car was an off duty police officer and was unfortuntely killed in the accident. When I saw Ben he was absolutely mortified at what had happened and every day since he has to live with his actions regardless of the fact it was an accident.

**** happens and its only the strong which take good from bad situations.

Were all capable of making an equal mistake

Shocking, just goes to show how sick the judicial system has become. I got 6 points and £450 fine for doing 104mph on a clean, dry bright A1 motorway a few years ago, this woman kills somebody by her negligence and poor attitude to her driving and gets lower fine and a short ban. How much is a life worth ? :angry:

too angry to type anyhting constructive.

immigration here i come

There’s no justice anymore. The courts have gone soft.

i saw this in a scottish newspaper while i was up there.she said that she had a sneezing fit and went for a tissue and swerved but it was not known how long she wasent watching the road for…its truly a wrong sentence and it makes people think they can get away with doing a thing like that…that poor bloke he was doing everything right and still got hit his poor family must be devastated

That’s a fair point if the driver is not at fault. i aquaplaned once and luckily only hit the meridian barrier. in this case the woman was stretching over to the passenger’s side. it’s driver error. that makes the world of difference.

£15 by the sounds of it:angry:

What the hell. There really needs to be some kind of task force put in place for this. Just too angry to put anything more constructive.

Totally outraged. I get a 3 month ban, 3 points & a £200 fine for doing 70mph also on a clean, dry sunny day (like today). This woman should have been disqualified from driving, easing the road congestion, 80 hours of community work, a hefty fine ( £ 800) & then asked to retake her driving test after a year. I think these alternatives are better than what she got & eased the over crowded prison situation.

What are these judges on !!! :angry:

– sorry, this – That’s a fair point if the driver is not at fault. i aquaplaned once and luckily only hit the meridian barrier. in this case the woman was stretching over to the passenger’s side. it’s driver error. that makes the world of difference. –
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— was meant to be quoted against the above. my mistake. It’s a bllsht ruling and she basically got off scot free after killing someone by her own actions. it wasn’t a mistake it was ineptitude at best.

I do see your point. But there is a large difference between having an accident and causing an accident. There is also a large difference between having an accident by losing control of your vehicle (perhaps negligently) and causing an accident by reaching for a tissue (gross negilience). Yes, the fact that she will have to deal with it for the rest of her life should be considered, but the penalty that the court has imposed is clearly insufficient.If I were a Judge/Magistrate (and Im not, so think youreselves lucky lol), Id say 6 points, a temporary ban of a year, attendance of a training scheme directed at awareness of other road users and some community service of some sort, plus all court costs (insurance anyway, so her insurance will become more expensive too - a deterrent for driving) and the fine should be put towards the funeral.

sounds purely like an accident to me.

esp during times like this when the pollen count is very high, im always taking sneezing fits, you sneeze so quickly its not like you have time to indicate and safely pull in to the side!

please also consider the effect of making a decision like this on subsequent cases.

If people see that they can use allergies as an excuse for manslaughter, then there will be arguably more manslaughters. Each case must be considered carefully. Taking your eyes off the road is not acceptable. If mobile phones are illegal to hold, what consistency is there in allowing reaching for a tissue!?

There is a big difference between being sympathetic and being soft.

the difference is, you have a choice whether to leave your phone or not.

you dont really have a choice whether to get a tissue or not if your sneezing…