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Saturday 22 March 2014

Driver innocent but bereaved still want revenge.

Story here.

This story is astounding and drivers must pay heed to what it says between the lines.

'Accident investigators were unable to prove that the accident had been caused by bad driving'.

So why was the driver charged in the first place then tried anyway?

But 'Unable to prove that the accident was caused by bad driving' ? How anti driver is that? How about: 'There was no evidence of bad driving'?

Then yet again the bereaved not happy with the driver being innocent, want the accident laws made even easier to jail drivers than they are already. To do that the community has been saddled with yet another anti driver charity and no doubt the road safety industry money go round will reward these people with honours like the rest of the hangers on are.

'Do I have no heart'? I can hear the bile already. No I don't. Not when, by using the bereaved emotionally, more bogus and dangerous road safety policy is foisted on the public while drivers are targeted with unnecessary unwarranted jail terms I don't.

This story is about: 'Someone dies so someone must be arrested and imprisoned for it' 

Drivers we must reverse this nonsense.

Didn't it occur to the family that this death was as a result of road cycling. I make no apology for stating the obvious as drivers don't want anyone to die on our roads, least of all be involved in it.

Politicians who encourage road cycling must hang their heads. Instead of facing reality, they're attacking essential infrastructure against the community interests.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Keith,
    Your headline states that the driver was innocent but this isn't the case. While he was aquitted, the verdict was 'Not Proven' which under Scottish law means (according to Wikipedia): -
    "Essentially, the judge or jury is unconvinced that the suspect is innocent, but has insufficient evidence to the contrary."

    Therefore, they believe he was guilty but couldn't prove it.

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  2. If he were guilty he would be punished. Innocent until proven guilty. Un punished means he's innocent no matter what Wiki says.

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  3. Hi,
    Not in Scotland. There are three options, guilty, not guilty and not proven.

    All a bit grey but he is not innocent.

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    1. Don't let's deal in semantics on peculiarities of Scottish law. He wasn't found guilty because the evidence wasn't sufficient. That's the principle of innocence in English courts. Innocent? Not proven? Most reasonable people see that as innocent. But even by your perameters, these relatives don't accept justice that doesn't suit their wishes. How that brings their loved one back is a mystery.

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  4. Hi Keith,
    Peculiar or not, if we take away the legalspeak, the options would be: -
    - Innocent
    - Guilty
    - We think you're guilty but we can't prove it

    Taken like this, I'd suggest that most people would not see him as innocent. Don't forget, this was a decision made by a jury which was (hopefully!) made up of reasonable people.

    I'm assuming that you are completely baffled by the Hillsborough enquiry. I'm not au fait with all the details but from what I understand, the original inquest verdicts were accidental death. However, to paraphrase your words, the relatives of the deceased didn't accept justice that didn't suit their wishes and mounted a campaign which has culminated in these verdicts being overturned. By your parameters, are they wasting their time as similarly, it won't bring the dead back?

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    Replies
    1. I won't comment on Hillsborough since that was an inquest not a trial. Most people would not accept that innocent until proven guilty isn't a reality and isn't justice. Of course guilty people get off and are found innocent under the law. Ok if it bugs you but most people will understand the point and indeed this is quite a regular situation with bereaved. A worse example is here http://bit.ly/18GWeRf So it's all the same story really.

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