| Can anyone help (non footy) 20:58 - Jun 8 with 1340 views | COASTALHOOP |
If 15 years is the maximum penalty for death by dangerous driving, so how much worse can this be? Why only 5 years? F'kin joke!
Wakefield hit and run death driver jailed
Published on Thursday 7 June 2012 15:12
A motorist who killed a six-year-old boy in a hit-and-run incident while driving at almost twice the speed limit was today jailed for five years and three months.
Peter Renshaw, 22, struck and killed Owen Wightman, who was crossing a road near his home in Wakefield on June 18 last year.
Renshaw admitted causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.
Leeds Crown Court has heard the defendant barely slowed down after the collision and, despite stopping shortly after to check damage to his car, took three days to turn himself in to West Yorkshire Police.
He told officers at the time he had no idea he had collided with a pedestrian and thought he may have hit a pothole.
The court heard how Owen was struck by Renshaw’s Fiat Seicento car while out playing with a friend on Fishpond Lane, Kettlethorpe, Wakefield.
The court was told the speed of the Fiat in the 30mph limit was 57mph and Owen was carried 75ft (23 metres) down the road by the impact, which one witness said sounded like a gunshot.
Owen was hit a glancing blow by the car and was struck by the front of the vehicle before being pushed onto the bonnet, the court was told.
At an earlier court hearing the prosecution alleged police found “additional” damage to Renshaw’s car which had been inflicted on the vehicle with a “view to disguise what had taken place.”
Elements of the prosecution case were disputed by the defendant and a Newton hearing was held last month but halted when Renshaw eventually admitted failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.
The case was adjourned to today for sentence.
Renshaw, who has a conviction for possession of cannabis and a reprimand and caution for the same offence, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
The court was told he was also banned from driving for six months when he was 17 for having no insurance.
On the day of the accident, the court was told he was delivering a Father’s Day card and present to his parents’ home in Emley when he hit Owen who had stepped out into the road in a residential area close to his home.
Renshaw’s barrister Richard Clewes said his client never intended the accident to happen.
He added: “He’s devastated by the loss he has caused and is extremely sorry for it, and in so far as he can, apologise for it.”
He said he was “basically a decent person” who had “wrestled with his conscience” in the days after the accident and voluntarily handed himself in.
He said his university life was now over and he would struggle with a custodial sentence.
Outside court, Mrs Wightman questioned Renshaw’s remorse.
She told reporters: “We miss Owen so much. It gets harder and harder without him. Our lives will never be the same again.
“This lad has shown no remorse and if anything positive is to come out of this, it is that young drivers are deterred from speeding by thinking about what this has done to a family and a little boy’s life.”
Jane Cryer, District Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Owen Wightman’s life was cut tragically short and his family suffered a heartbreaking and irreparable loss.
“The Wightman family have been foremost in our minds as we have built the prosecution case in close co-operation with West Yorkshire Police.”
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/wakefield-hit
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| Can anyone help (non footy) on 22:04 - Jun 8 with 1290 views | stowmarketrange |
They set the sentence and then either add time or take it away for different circumstances.So the maximum would be 15 years,but there must be special reasons why he hasn't got that sentence.
In my opinion,a t-sser like him should have got life. |  | | |
| Can anyone help (non footy) on 23:33 - Jun 8 with 1231 views | scot1963 |
looks like he's given lip service to 'appropriate remorse' which could possibly be deemed a mitigating factor as far as a court is concerned - ridiculous concept if it is the case |  | | |
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