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news
Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Woman who caused cyclist to fall off his bike and die banned from driving for six months
A woman who opened her car door without looking, causing a cyclist to fall off his bike and suffer fatal head injuries, has been banned for driving for six months and fined £305.
Robert Hamilton, aged in his 70s, was riding along Linaker Street in Southport in January this year when mum-of-one Joanne Jackson, 44, opened the drivers door of her Toyota Avensis into the road, killing him.
Instead of manslaughter, however, the Crown Prosecution Service chose to pursue the lesser charge of opening a car door so as to injure or endanger a person, which Jackson admitted to, at Wirral magistrates’ court on Thursday.
Jonathan Egan, prosecuting, told how one witness said the door hit the cyclist, another that it caused him to swerve, but either way her act was “negligent” and caused him to fall.
Mr Hamilton was taken to Preston Hospital by air ambulance, but later died of his injuries.
Jackson, representing herself, told the court: “I’m very, very sorry. It was an accident. I have got to live with this as well.”
Robert’s widow, May, has criticised the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision not to prosecute Jackson with manslaughter, and instead charge her with a traffic offence.
Mrs Hamilton told the Liverpool Echo: “It’s been absolutely devastating. I am so disgusted with the way these sorts of deaths are trivialised with very minor charges.
“Robert wasn’t wearing a helmet, but I was told that was irrelevant [in terms of charges]. Robert cycled all across Europe for charity.
“He did wear a helmet on longer routes but not shorter ones. One thing you can be sure of, more people are going to die the way Robert did. I wonder how many more before the law takes these sort of deaths seriously?”
Claire Lindley, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: “The offence of manslaughter was very carefully considered by senior prosecutors, and a decision was taken that there was insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for that offence.
"This is a tragic case, and our thoughts are with Mrs Hamilton and her family.”
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 5 min 8 sec ago
I was surprised not to find it. I have seen her on twitter and she has banged on about Park Lane.
- john_smith 10 min 8 sec ago
Less bad than me, at any rate. I was hoping to see at least one of the cyclists not give way to the oncoming car but either crash into it and sue...
- MichaelWinnerRIP 33 min 29 sec ago
I'm not sure Sussex Police is correct. This subject was covered recently by the Black Belt Barrister on YouTube and he was clear that, in a public...
- brooksby 44 min 2 sec ago
Except that the Tories want to defund it because they think it is biased AGAINST them.
- brooksby 46 min 32 sec ago
So even the market for bikes which don't can't ever leave the house is tanking?
- momove 55 min 40 sec ago
As a public body, they are....
- mitsky 1 hour 6 min ago
Intersting article in The Spectator advocating drivers who have a dashcam to "snitch" on littering/flytipping by other drivers....
- mitsky 1 hour 7 min ago
Intersting article in The Spectator advocating drivers who have a dashcam to "snitch" on littering/flytipping by other drivers....
- mitsky 1 hour 7 min ago
Intersting article in The Spectator advocating drivers who have a dashcam to "snitch" on littering/flytipping by other drivers....
- andystow 2 hours 31 min ago
My granny started driving before driving tests were implemented. When they were, she was grandfathered (grandmothered?) in, and she ticked all the...
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46 comments
Yes good point, we've all done things wrong, but id be surprised if 0.00000005% of people who have made such a mistake has lead to the death of someone. And TBH her remark of
doesn't really show she is thinking of anyone except herself, which doesn't put her in any better a light imo.
I think that means she will have it on her conscience. I don't think that's thinking of yourself overly. Merely a statement of extreme regret.
Surely the point is not that she made a mistake, but that she made an error and as a direct consequence, somebody died.
I really and honestly would hope that if I did make an error, and that somebody died because of it, that I would be able to put my hand up and say, "Its a fair cop." I would expect the same of anyone else.
Well she did didn't she? She pleaded guilty.
Sorry, may have had a foot/mouth intersection there. My post was picking on the "don't blame her cos it could happen to anyone" school of thought. I actually think that it is pretty brave to plead guilty. It so rarely happens.
When are we going to get the possibility to mark a comment "dislike", and not just the "like" choice.
I'm thinking of the comment by " truffy".
It's heartless, and malicious.
It is better to debate rationally, down-voting is a bad system according to the boffins:
negative feedback leads to behavioral changes that are hugely detrimental to the community
thanks for the article in the link. Summary: ignore the trolls and they are less likely to post.
No. It wasn't. It was negligence.
Nice to have that choice, isn't it?
Well no one here is likely to disagree with that statement.
So presumably he saw the value of wearing a helmet, but just didn't bother on this occasion. It may not have saved his life, but it may have done. Contributory negligence IMO.
<dons flameproof undergarments/>
Stop trolling.
I wonder what would've happened if it had been a pedestrian flinging a lump of metal which was merely the same shape and size as a car door onto the road, causing a motorist to swerve/crash and die?
A young lad got three years in jail recently for throwing stuff from a road bridge over the A1. He did hit a lorry but nobody was badly hurt fortunately http://tinyurl.com/plvygln
Could the widow take out a civil case against the woman? Would her chances be any good at winning?
I have known this to happen twice where a cyclist died from a incident like this and the driver only got fined.
A cyclist life has very little worth on the roads.
It wasnt an 'accident'. It was a clear case of negligence caused but utter incompetence. She can whine all she likes but at least she got to live.
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