Drivers killing cyclists – the system really is broken

aye – maybe next time she overtakes on a blind corner the vehicle she hits will be bigger than her.

can this be appealed?

Probably not appealed, but I wonder if there could be something found that might have caused a mistrial, maybe due to the direction given by the judge.

I feel empty inside… 🙁

Oh BTW hi to Terry Davidson 😉

is that a subtle way of reminding me my id is visible on the net ? 😉

Well I wasn’t going to out you on here, but if you will post an STW thread on FB (now you just need to work out which of your friends I’m friends with – shouldn’t be too hard)!

tempted to add her on linkd in and send her a copy of that open letter but i doubt it would make anything any better

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/helen-measures/11/550/b66

that barrister on the other hand…….

Janick Fielding

another reason to have compulsory dashboard cameras? At the very least the courts would have another view point of what happened rather than just the defendants version of events?

lorry driver that nearly killed a motorcycling friend claimed that my mate had already fallen off his bike before hitting his lorry & therefore was not the lorry drivers fault, the defence team will try every little trick in the book & often the prosecuting team are not brilliantly organised 🙁 if you ever have the misfortune to be a witness to such an incident please make sure that you take pictures etc – it will feel very callous at the time but from experience it will pay dividends in court

What a very sad and frustrating story.

I just looked up Stonor and had a jaunt up and down the road on Streetview.

If whilst following a couple of cyclists, from this angle, some people might have been tempted to overtake. Anybody who thinks it would be OK is challenged to click on the ‘move forward’ arrow couple of times, then reconsider.

another reason to have compulsory dashboard cameras?

Or a reason for more cyclists to ride with helmetcams?

Not sure how much difference it would make though. Even in her defence version of events, she overtook when she couldn’t see that the road was clear – an obvious breach of the Highway Code and commonsense – but for some reason that isn’t even “careless” driving, never mind dangerous.

If whilst following a couple of cyclists, from this angle, some people might have been tempted to overtake.

Not a chance. Especially as it is a 30 there with parked cars and driveways onto the road.

But you’re right – some would 🙁

I hope this woman is haunted for the rest of her life(if it was my girlfriend she had killed it wouldn’t be very long). I suspect she so full of her own importance that she doesn’t give a toss though.

we have less rights on the roads in the UK than a dog.

I just looked up Stonor and had a jaunt up and down the road on Streetview.

err A415 not B480 surely?

[/quote]Not sure how much difference it would make though

A picture / video says a lot more than many words, in the case I was involved in (only went to magistrates court) it pretty much revolved around the google earth image I had downloaded & printed off to submit as evidence

that barrister on the other hand…….

Janick Fielding

He really is a nasty piece of work isn’t he, I’m truly lost for words……….

No matter how narrow the defence, regardless of how implausible it may seem on the facts, if the client insists on running it then Janick will be only too pleased to fight it.

😐

He really is a nasty piece of work isn’t he, I’m truly lost for words……….

Thing is, the English legal system is not about the truth, it is about who can put forward the best argument. In theory the best argument with the best evidence should be the truth. Sadly it is all too often not the case.

So for the English system to work you do need the Janick’s to put forward arguments. But why would you want to do the work????

sounds like he would fit in well around here ….. no facts – no problem.

nope Aracer youll have to gie me a clue – short of the fact that all i have to go on is that you ride unicycles sometimes i would be looking for a long time but ill guess at TJ or Glupton.

Right first guess

Not sure how much difference it would make though

A picture / video says a lot more than many words, try videoing a driver nearly killing you then getting the legal system to give a shit, if a barrister can’t manage it how are mere mortals going to get anything done?

Video evidence might help if you actually make it to court, but then again you may get a jury like the one in the OP where, seemingly, they go against the evidence/common sense and instead side with someone like them (ie a driver)

He really is a nasty piece of work isn’t he

Holy moley, some of the stuff he’s defended is amazing.

He can’t spell though.

“Specailist CV”

From the lawyer link

R v Rattan [2009 – 10] – drink driving [Privately funded] – The defendant, a retired professor, had been found unconscious, in a pool of his own blood, on the floor of a property he was having renovated. After receiving some first aid from his builder, his next recollection, several hours later, was of being stopped by the police while driving a high performance BMW that was not his own, with an unknown young Polish blonde in the seat alongside him

😯

and again

R v Guittierez-Perez [2009] – causing death by dangerous driving [Privately funded] – Counsel was instructed specifically for the appeal of this difficult and tragic matter. The Appellant, for whom leave had been secured, had been sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The brief facts were that, after a failed attempt to commit suicide, she had driven her Range Rover while under the influence of drink and drugs until, after several minor accidents and near-misses, she careered into the barrier outside a primary school and crushed an infant in a pushchair to death in front of its mother and very young siblings.

😯

The man will take on any case

His job is to get people like that cleared.
Wow. Bet he sleeps well at night.

Holy moley, some of the stuff he’s defended is amazing.

😯 I did not know defence lawyers did “look at some of the dodgy ****ers I’ve gotten off the hook” testimonials whilst hawking their services.

The man will take on any case

I guess someone has to, seemingly*, boasting about it on your ad page is pretty grim tho.

*maybe this is par for the course, I dunno, bit of a (very depressing) eye opener anyway

Anyway, I think we’re digressing into that blaming one person thing again here..

I sometimes do deliveries to Kings Bench walk in Temple. If I see him I’ll [Comment removed at the request of the barrister’s chambers – Mod]

So for the English system to work you do need the Janick’s to put forward arguments

I suspect it would work just fine without him and his like – he’s just exploiting the system being broken.

I still don’t understand how he can put something like that in his closing.

I’ll probably get more time for that than killing someone in a car though.

But why would you want to do the work

For the Dollah!

I understand that we have to have a system where people accused of the most awful crimes have a right to defend themselves, and to question the accusers. That is fine. I have no problem with that. And it’s worth remembering that plenty of innocent people are accused of doing terrible things. We shouldn’t attack the people who defend those people.

But so many of the cases in Janick’s CV seem to be “Yeah, the guy did the thing he was accused of, a person is dead because of it, but the police failed to tick a box on this form so I got him off. JUSTICE!”. It’s that that feels wrong to me. But then that’s what he’s paid to do, so why wouldn’t he advertise the fact that he’s good at it?

No problem- kick him soundly in the baws and then hire him to defend ye…

R v Razanskas [2009] – s.18 GBH – An utterly overwhelming case in which the defendant, a Lithuanian kickboxing champion, laid waste to an Afghanistani mini-cab office after employees of the establishment ill-advisedly took his bottle of vodka. Having allegedly taken-on everyone in sight, the defendant left the premises, though not before he had himself accrued significant injuries, including a shattered elbow from which the bones were protruding through skin and shirt. Leaving a lot of blood, other fluids and personal effects behind at the scene, he was said to have made his way home, affording the police a clear and sufficient trail of blood to follow. When the police arrived at his home address they found him naked (clothing already being in the washing machine), his girlfriend dressing his wounds and the knife that had punctured one victim’s lung lying on the floor beside his bed; the victim’s blood on the blade, the defendant’s on the handle. The defendant then went on the run for three years. The defence, in short, was that someone else did it. The defendant had professionally embarrassed one team of solicitors and counsel after the first trial and counsel secured a unanimous acquittal at the retrial. –Isleworth Crown Court.

That last one!!!

I know this part of the road well, in fact she (Dr Measures) probably passed me earlier as I was heading the other way at the time.

I came across the scene but the road was closed & had been for maybe no more than 10-15 minutes.

For my 2c Dr Measures has got away with it. It’s a dangerous road & requires care by both a cyclist & motorist to use it. It’s not quite straight but the curves that are on it are enough to restrict your view to warrant caution as traffic can & does move along it at speed. There are few decent passing places if any I’m honest.

A number of things jump out at me about this accident:

1. It is very close to a 30 zone (entering a village) otherwise being a 50. If Dr Measures was doing 50 when she overtook, I would ask the question had she really been driving with all due diligence? edit: Not much further along the road once it leaves the village it does straighten & provide a good overtaking place….
2. It really could have been me, there but for the grace of God?
3. I’m heartbroken for the lad & the family of his girlfriend. Truly.

Next time I’m on that road I reckon I’ll stop & say hi to Ms Perinova & wish her well.

Dusty now.

I’ve read several of these and they are always incredibly sad.

This one has really shocked me. And really, really boiled my piss.

I have also had an interest in these cases since my accident in April.I was hit head on by a car traveling on the wrong side of the road. The driver drove off and was later found parked up in a nearby street. I suffered broken tibia in 2 places, broke fibula, broken femur, smashed hip in more than 6 pieces, broken ribs punctured lung and multiple lacerations and bruises, oh and a black eye. My helmet split and bike was in 3 pieces. The driver has shown no remorse and been obstructive to the police all the way through the investigation making official complaints against all the officers involved. The CPS have looked at all the witness statements and evidence and have after 6 months decided it will go to crown court. Charging the driver with ‘causing serious injury by dangerous driving’. No date is set yet as it has to go to magistrates court first. Reading all of the stories of other cases I won’t hold my breath. I’m still on crutches and won’t be back at work until January, my wife and family have all suffered with stress as the police thought I wouldn’t recover from the injuries at the time. The law is OK but needs upholding by the judge handing out relevant sentences and drivers need to be educated. I will be back on the MTB but as for road cycling I don’t think so.

So very sad for the lady cyclist her freinds and ,boyfreind, and for the UTTER FAILURE OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, TO EITHER BAN HER FOR A LONG TIME OR INPRISON HER.

Wow chico – pleased to hear that you survived that shit !

Best of luck in court, if you get there

I’ve been trying to avoid reading this and getting wound up about another of these cases, but this one is just SO wrong. I’m not anti-car or anti-drivers, anyone can make a mistake etc but how can a jury not think what she did was blatantly and recklessly wrong?

What an utterly depressing read.

As for the lawyer, absolute scum…sickening sickening individual