Saturday 20 October 2012

six months in prison because he ‘acted dangerously’



The Cycling Lawyer notes how

after 9 months, my analysis of careless driving cases is starting to demonstrate how rare immediate custodial sentences are for motorists who kill cyclists. 

Killing people with a motor vehicle is regarded with great tolerance by the British criminal injustice system.

But if you upset people, judges and magistrates will have no compunction about sending you to prison:

Trenton Oldfield, who disrupted this year's Boat Race by swimming into the path of the crews on the Thames, was sentenced to six months in jail at Isleworth Crown Court after he was convicted of causing a public nuisance. 

The judge said Oldfield had acted dangerously, disproportionately, had not shown what he was actually protesting against, and displayed prejudice in sabotaging the event