Drunk driver gets 16 months sentence after drinking 13 pints and killing boy.

by Syl Wed Dec 14, 2016 12:43 pm

Why....because he was on private land and the laws of drink driving don't apply.
Another case of the law being an ass?

http://news.sky.com/story/tractor-driver-jailed-for-killing-boy-after-he-drank-equivalent-of-13-pints-10694602

"A tractor driver who ran over and killed an 11-year-old boy after drinking an estimated equivalent of 13 pints of beer the night before has been jailed.
Gary Green, 51, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for health and safety violations which contributed to the death of Harry Whitlam at a farm near Leeds.
Leeds Crown Court heard Green was more than twice the legal driving limit when the incident happened in August 2013.
He claimed he drank four pints in the pub the previous night followed by two cans at home.
But Judge Guy Kearl QC heard that an expert had concluded that Green must have drunk the equivalent of 13 pints of beer before he went to bed at 2am.
Because Green was on private land at the time of Harry's death, he was prosecuted under health and safety rather than road traffic law."

by Victorismyhero Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:33 pm

The problem ISNT that the road traffic act doesnt apply ....that would be ludicrous....but that the H&S law isnt sufficiently strong....

by JulesV Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:47 pm

People can drive underage on private land too.

Traffic accident verdicts are unpredictable. There have been quite a few surprising high court verdicts down the years.

There was that notorious celebrity lawyer (Freeman) who could get anyone off the hook even if they downed 20 pints and then ploughed through a group of infants on the pavement.

by JulesV Wed Dec 14, 2016 1:55 pm

There was also affluenza guy, on the other side of the pond.

by Victorismyhero Wed Dec 14, 2016 2:07 pm

Jules wrote:People can drive underage on private land too.

and quite rightly too

there is a LOT you can do on private land that you cant in a "public" space.....

Traffic accident verdicts are unpredictable. There have been quite a few surprising high court verdicts down the years.

There was that notorious celebrity lawyer (Freeman) who could get anyone off the hook even if they downed 20 pints and then ploughed through a group of infants on the pavement.

by Guest Wed Dec 14, 2016 2:59 pm

Jules wrote:People can drive underage on private land too.

Traffic accident verdicts are unpredictable. There have been quite a few surprising high court verdicts down the years.

There was that notorious celebrity lawyer (Freeman) who could get anyone off the hook even if they downed 20 pints and then ploughed through a group of infants on the pavement.

The 'unknown statistics' for children being maimed/killed while on the family farm is horrendous, sadly the data just has never been collected until recent years {as in 20th century} ...
The neglect for keeping those records and pushing family farmer to be mindful of the written hazards plainly painted on all of that farm machinery is so often ignored! **No One Under 16 To Operate This Farm Equipment** and this is most generally ignored by families.

Accident rates are high among our farm youth. For the United States more than half of the annual mortality to young people between the ages of 15 and 24 is due to accidents.

Perhaps 80 percent of our farm accidents result from carelessness or failure to deal with hazards safely. Many accidents are avoidable.

Motor vehicles are listed as the agency of injury most frequently associated with accidents to farm people. Traffic accidents to farm people. Traffic accidents account for many of the serious injuries of farm people while they are off their farms. Farm machinery was the agency most frequently associated with accidents occurring on farmland. Falls were most frequently associated with home accidents.

Farm accidents are at their peak in June, July, and August--the most active period of crop production and harvest.
The annual mortality from farm accidents is estimated at from 60 to 70 per 100,000 of farm population.
http://nasdonline.org/716/d000510/farm-accidents-in-the-united-states.html

How sad for this young boy, how doubly sad for the mother. And perhaps due to the families needs the judge leaned towards a lighter side of sentencing so that the drunkard could change his ways and return to the family - support them doing the farm chores that they'll have to depend upon others while he's in the slammer!
I can't tell you the number of funerals I've attended in my lifetime that were for farming families burying their children killed from a really stupid - utterly STUPID farm machinery incident that just NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED had the parents been responsible and kept their children the hell away from those big moving machines! Evil or Very Mad

by Syl Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:21 pm

The young lads mother worked in the café on the farm. The boy often accompanied his mum whist she worked and was well known on the farm, he liked to help out with the smaller animals.
Gary Green, the tractor driver worked at the farm, he was self employed.....not the farm owner.

He was still glassy eyed and appeared drunk after he ran the boy down.
He also has two previous convictions for drunk driving.

The law is an ass.

by 'Wolfie Thu Dec 15, 2016 3:13 am

I SUSPECT that driver could be facing a manslaughter charge, if that occurred over here...

There is a push on in some legal circles and victims advocacy groups to have a "negligent homicide" charge introduced, for when a manslaughter conviction and sentence doesn't seem adequate, and yet the offender can't be charged with either culpable driving or outright homicide, under existing driving or OH&S laws..

by Guest Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:38 pm

Syl wrote:The young lads mother worked in the café on the farm. The boy often accompanied his mum whist she worked and was well known on the farm, he liked to help out with the smaller animals.
Gary Green, the tractor driver worked at the farm, he was self employed.....not the farm owner.

He was still glassy eyed and appeared drunk after he ran the boy down.
He also has two previous convictions for drunk driving.

The law is an ass.

My error, I had the link and article as it was first report ...way back in 2013 ...and our group was comparing foreign farming incidents to American farming incidents > > >

14:08, UK,Saturday 10 August 2013
A schoolboy has died after being hit by a tractor at a farm visitor attraction.

Harry Whitlam, 11, died on Friday hours after the incident at Swithens Farm in the Rothwell area of Leeds.
The tractor driver, a 48-year-old man, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving.
The farm is open to visitors, although a statement on its website said the collision was on the "working part of the farm".
Local reports suggested Harry suffered head injuries from the tractor's trailer as the vehicle was reversing.
http://news.sky.com/story/schoolboy-harry-whitlam-hit-by-tractor-dies-10437728

Obviously there were more updates and pertinent details that I'd missed out on. How dreadful for this mother, but I'm very PROUD that she's had the fortitude to stick with this failure in judicial punishment and I hope she moves the courts to do THE RIGHT THING.
3 years ...good grief!

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