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Sally Preece (picture source - Just Giving)No jail for motorist who killed Deloitte Ride Across Britain cyclist
A 78-year-old motorist who killed a cyclist taking part in the Deloitte Ride Across Britain in September 2014 has been told it would be inappropriate to jail him as a result of his age.
Mother-of-two Sally Preece, aged 49 and from Cheltenham, died in hospital the day after she was hit by a Volvo S40 driven by Kenneth McClelland on the A85 in Glen Ogle, Perthshire.
> Deloitte Ride Across Britain rider dies in hospital
She was on the seventh day of the nine-day mass participation ride from Land's End to John O'Groats when the wing mirror of the car caught her handlebars. She was also struck by the wheel of a bike attached to the back of the vehicle, with force of the collision catapulting her more than 30 metres, reports STV.
McLelland, who was returning from a caravan trip with his wife, had been overtaking a camper van and another car at the time of the crash. The driver of that second vehicle, a Renault Clio, said she had thought of overtaking the camper van just beforehand, but did not consider it safe to do so.
Ann Orr, prosecuting, told Stirling Sheriff Court that McLelland should have seen Mrs Preece. “It was the opinion of both collision investigators that the collision was caused by the accused, who carried out an overtaking manoeuvre by pulling out without checking it was clear to do so," she added.
The motorist, who is a retired civil engineer and reportedly suffers from arthritis and angina, pleaded guilty at his trial last month to causing Mrs Preece’s death by dangerous driving, an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years' imprisonment.
Speaking in mitigation, his solicitor Alexander Currie said his client "tendered his condolences" to the victim’s family, and that “over the past 14 or 15 months he has only been able to imagine how bereft they are at the loss of their dear one.
"He has no real recollection of passing the Renault,” he added. When he did see Mrs Preece it was too late to avoid contact. He was travelling at about 45mph.
"He will punish himself for the rest of his life for what he has done. A man who was once energetic and easy going is now subdued and introverted as a direct result of this," he added.
Passing sentence, Sheriff William Gilchrist told McClelland: "These were tragic events, obviously for Mrs Sally Preece, but also for her family.
"I have read victim impact statements from her husband, her mother and her father and it is quite clear, as it inevitably would be, that they are suffering terribly as a result of the loss of Sally.
"The consequences of your driving that day were the most serious – they resulted in a fatality.
"However, given your age, I do not think it would be appropriate to impose a short period of imprisonment, which would be essentially a matter of weeks.”
Ordering him to perform 300 hours of unpaid work, the sheriff said: "I am therefore going to employ a community disposal as an alternative to custody.
"Your failure to see Mrs Preece was not momentary. You should have seen her. Two drivers preceding you saw her and one driver behind you saw her. But I accept there is genuine remorse."
McLelland was also banned from driving for five years and will have to retake a driving test before getting his licence back.
According to STV, Mrs Preece’s husband Phil “looked dumbstruck” when it was revealed that McLelland would not be going to jail and he declined to comment after the sentence was handed down.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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28 comments
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It's hard to know. Even driving falling just short of dangerous (when careless is charged) has custody as an entry point.
I don't think the judge is using his age as an excuse for crime, he is taking it as a relevant factor in assessing the appropriate sentence.
It is deeply misleading to compare the maximum sentence with the actual sentence.
The guidelines for sentencing for causing death by dangerous driving and careless driving (for England and Wales) can be found:
here
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/death_by_dangerous_...
and
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/causing_death_by_ca...
I guess the judge has thought that despite the guilty plea to dangerous driving, this was probably more akin to a top end careless driving case where the sentencing range is 36 weeks to 3 years custody.
Add a discount for the guilty plea, possible discount for genuine remorse and you can see how you might get down to a "few weeks" which the judge then considers pointless for a man of this age.
Not saying I agree, just setting out the likely process.
I find it very frustrating when judges use a person's advanced age as an excuse for crime.
Rolf Harris, 84, sentenced to 5 years for sex offences.
McClelland, 78, let off after killing someone.
12 offences to date. And possibly some more to come, according to the news. All carried out deliberately.
But yes, let's have a day of contrasting prison sentences between various offences, this will be fun.
I think the point he was trying to make is that older people have gone to jail, why shouldn't this guy?
Ah yes, because killing someone on a bike, with a car, isn't considered a serious offence, not worth sending them to jail because it wouldn't achieve anything.
If he pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving charge then he was saying, "yes, I did it, you've got me bang to rights". Does someone get time off for admitting it and saving the court's time??? It seems that an admission of guilt has been used as some sort of weird mitigation, which just seems wrong.
I thought normally, you get a reuction of a third, so 1.5x no time served would still be no time served. The reduction for an early guilty plea is required otherwise every case no matter how conclusive would go the distance with a jury, clogging up the courts. Why not, there would be no penalty for a clearly ridiculous not guilty plea.
could argue that by admitting guilt you are actually showing some remorse, doesn't undo what you have done, it justs indicates you accept you have done wrong. Yes you are also saving everyone time, money and in a case like this, you would hope reducing the pain for the family by avoiding dragging the memories up again.
However i still stick to the point HTF do you turn a 14year sentence into 300hours community service!
14 years is the maximum, not the starting point. It is for the worst imaginable case of death by dangerous driving. That would almost certainly have to involve some or all of the following: multiple deaths (or at least serious injury to others and one death); drink and/or drugs; wilfully dangerous driving; usually either going at 60+ through built-up areas or deliberately carving people up; throwing things at other cars; persistent use of mobile phone etc
This is a bad offence, as all death by dangerous drivings are, but it is by no means the worst case of causing death by dangerous driving. hence it does not attract the maximum.
All offences work like this. We do not punish a bag snatching robbery as harshly as a full-on violent robbery with weapons, prolonged detention and humiliation of a victim etc.
Seeing that you get a £150 fine for 'rear-ending' someone, this sentence looks 'appropriate'.
Sadly, I suspect it'll take the death or serious injury of a "national treasure" celeb whilst cycling and hit by a motorist, for a possible shift in attitudes towards cyclists on public roads.
I hope the family challenge this sentance its pitiful, its seems unduely leiniant and makes a mockery of what happened
RIP Sally Preece, but it won't be easy for her loved ones after such a travesty of justice.
I wonder if he would have noticed a HGV coming the other way.
In the words of the judge, "it's ok, your old, kill as many people as you like with your car"
I really don't understand.... as none of us do...
My next door neighbours dad was in a car - car crash, which was also a "no brainer" who was in the wrong, it was him. Someone died in the other car, so he pleaded guity. He was 69, A VICAR, and was proven to be of sound mind, no drugs nor alcohol, the right prescription glasses etc. His only defence was it was raining and he didn't see the junction easily as the windscreen was clearing, but he only said that after he pleaded guilty.
The judge said he was an upstanding citizen, had never even had a speeding fine and was devastated by what happened. 12 months in prison...
Even I think this is ridiculous.
I will say that the comment about a few weeks is being misinterpreted: he didn't say that a younger person would get a few weeks, I think he was trying to say that given his age this guy would only get a few weeks, which is pointless.
That said, and without knowing every detail of the case (which none of us does), this sentence appears to me to be wildly outside the guideline.
Which guideline? I'm assuming you mean seeking guidance from the English and Welsh one?
Yes, sorry, should have made that clear. I was assuming that the Scottish courts have broadly the same sentencing regime for the same offence.
I believe so. I was surprised to see that they put sentencing reasoning online for the High Court cases as well. But couldn't find any for the Sheriff's Court. Would be interesting to see how they assessed this one. There's a similar case here
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/neath-death-crash-greg-flow...
But a lesser charge. I don't really follow the present case at all. If they are using the same guidelines it would be fascinating to see how they got it down from the starting point.
Yep: there needs to be a massive campaign to put driving like an impatient twat in the same anti-social bracket as drink driving.
"A man who was once energetic and easy going is now subdued and introverted as a direct result of this"
Awwww. Is he a lickle bit sad
A woman who was once energetic is now dead as a direct result of this.
Seeing as he apparently hasn't got very long left and is full of remorse, take his pension away and give it to the victims family.
And frankly, who gives a shit that he suffers from Angina and Arthritis - all that does is rub salt in the wound that he was even driving in the first place; The family now suffer with the loss of a loved one which is much harder to bear.
Given that he says he's remorseful, perhaps a good "punishment" would be for him to have to retell his story of remorse and the pain and suffering he's caused to all those who have been charged (not just convictions as those seem nearly impossible to achieve in this country) with motoring offenses against cyclists. In addition his testimony should be used as part of a government national awareness campaign around the duty of care motorists have towards cyclists. When the government takes the matter as seriously as it took/takes drink driving there might be hope. Until then justice will be piecemeal at best and have little impact on other motorists' behaviour.
FFS, so if he had been young and fit the judge would have imposed a sentence of a couple of weeks, but because he is old he doesn't even get that.
The maximum he could have got was 14years.. you really have to ask HTF you go from 14years to 300hours community service!
I don't understand this comment by the judge at all "However, given your age, I do not think it would be appropriate to impose a short period of imprisonment, which would be essentially a matter of weeks.” Is he saying that if the driver was younger he'd have just done him for a few weeks?
Still, I expect they'll never be behind the wheel again. Thank goodness.
I give up. What the fuck do they hope to accomplish with 300 hours unpaid work for a 78 year old? When will a judge stand up for the law and punish ignorant and impatient drivers?
I hope he doesn't get his license back in 5 years, should have been banned for life.