Kill a cyclist-suspended sentence

[kosmonooit]

If it is any consolation I know his family well and his mother was disappointed that he did not get convicted of drunk driving.

 

 

What was the reason he got off the Drunk Driving charge?

[brussel]

not enough evidence as I recall...

[Tumbleweed]

not enough evidence as I recall...

 

"Lucky for you, based on the evidence before court, the court could not find you were under the influence of alcohol, but had that been the case the court would have no other choice but to sentence you to a term of imprisonment."

[Shebeen]

Excuse me 'Puncher', but why does he 'need help' when he is expressing a very valid point?

it's not a valid point at all, and has ZERO facts to back it up. it's an attempt to drive the topic into some sort of racial argument. this attempt might even be concious. he might have changed his name but the 'tendencies' are still there.

 

*a cyclist has been killed by a drunk drover who left the scene.

*it's taken 5 years and the guy has got off without much punishment.

 

to be honest, i don't think jail is the best sentence for this kind of thing. The suspect has surely had a tough time in the whole ordeal as well. community service would be better. make him go service bikes in the townships.

 

link to article.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/hit-and-run-suspect-upset-by-cyclist-s-death-1.269353

[Christopher Brunsdon]

Saw it last night and it pissed me off too much to post. Its sick to also see that its a global problem, not just in SA.

[Tumbleweed]

it's not a valid point at all, and has ZERO facts to back it up. it's an attempt to drive the topic into some sort of racial argument. this attempt might even be concious. he might have changed his name but the 'tendencies' are still there.

 

*a cyclist has been killed by a drunk drover who left the scene.

*it's taken 5 years and the guy has got off without much punishment.

 

to be honest, i don't think jail is the best sentence for this kind of thing. The suspect has surely had a tough time in the whole ordeal as well. community service would be better. make him go service bikes in the townships.

 

link to article.

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/hit-and-run-suspect-upset-by-cyclist-s-death-1.269353

 

Well said.

[Joe Low]

I think the sentence is consistent for this sort of thing.

 

Culpable homicide means that the State didnt try to prove he intentionally swerved into the cyclists meaning to cause harm - which is what we are all guessing he did.

 

That would be murder.

 

They've gone with an accident due to recklessness/negligence which is way down on the scale of crimes.

 

If anything, the magistrate has made an effort not to be soft - given the limits they had to work in.

[Hairy]

I think the sentence is consistent for this sort of thing.

 

Culpable homicide means that the State didnt try to prove he intentionally swerved into the cyclists meaning to cause harm - which is what we are all guessing he did.

 

That would be murder.

 

They've gone with an accident due to recklessness/negligence which is way down on the scale of crimes.

 

If anything, the magistrate has made an effort not to be soft - given the limits they had to work in.

 

The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene.

he left someone badly injured at the scene and drove off!!!

[Christopher Brunsdon]

The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene.

he left someone badly injured at the scene and drove off!!!

 

 

And "hit-n-run" is not a criminal offence, law needs to be changed. All he can get charged with is leaving the scene of an accident and not stopping to assist an injured person.

[ZOINCS]

Spill your Johny Walker on JUJU and you will sit with a prison term, very just, NOT

 

A Gauteng betting agent expressed shock on Wednesday after being found guilty of assault for spilling his drink on President Jacob Zuma at the Vodacom Durban July last year.

Edited July 29, 2011 by etiennes

[Shebeen]

The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene.

he left someone badly injured at the scene and drove off!!!

I'm not exactly proud of it, but have done my fair bit of over the limit driving in the forgotten past.

but i'm olderer and cleverer now.

and the law is definitely rougher on offenders than in the past.

 

since it was 6am, i can only guess that as a 23year old he was coming back from the pubs. and pissed. he might have been the designated driver, we don't know.

in the same position, I'm not sure i wouldn't have done the same thing.

 

it's a dog eat dog world out there and you have to look after your own ass first. if he had stayed and got tested, then he'd be in the clink right now. instead by running and only turning himself in later he has got off. CLEARLY this motivates one to hit and run rather than face the consequences. the risk and reward is twisted in this regard.

 

Zuiderma will have to live with this on his consience

[scotty]

Not sure if the guy handed himself in or if he was traced after but IMO it sets a precedent, next time you have had too much to drink and are involved in an accident where someone is injured or worse killed, speed off sleep it off then when you are traced most you will get is a light suspended sentence as opposed to a harsher one if you found to be over.

[Joe Low]

The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene. The motorist drove away from the scene.

he left someone badly injured at the scene and drove off!!!

I'm not saying it's right, i'm saying its consistent and not unusual. The outcome of a process as opposed to justice. You'd have to look at the range of sentences for other Culpable Homicide cases to gauge the severity of this one.

Edited July 29, 2011 by Joe Low

[Hairy]

I'm not saying it's right, i'm saying its consistent and not unusual. The outcome of a process as opposed to justice. You'd have to look at the range of sentences for other Culpable Homicide cases to gauge the severity of this one.

 

I understand, just had to still drive the point.

[reteid]

firstly never believe all that is written in the newspaper.(I have found that the only thing you can believe in the newspaper is probably the cartoons.) As for the comment of Maggi I am sure that once you have read your post again you will find that such generalization might not be a good idea."it seems that attorneys in this country have no sense for the value of life. May all defending these type of idiots suffer the same pains and losses." I am one of those who from time to time defend such people. I can assure you that I value life, my own and those of my wife son and daughter. For that matter I value all life.

 

once the person has been found guilty of an offense the sentence of the accused is judged by a different set of rules, the scope of which is not important here.For a discussion on what sentences should be, you can start with Greek philosophers, do a year course at the University and study the millions of sentences pronounced each day in our courts. What should be remembered is that it is one of the most basic principles across all Democratic world that the person is innocent until proven guilty. I do not for one moment suggests that what happened should be condoned.

 

Each matter and each sentence should be judged on its own merits. If not you would have ludicrous situations for example if one person is to be sentenced to jail, then all people should be sent to jail for committing the same offense.this might be a cool idea until something like this happens to you.

 

The bottom line is that this incident should never have happened. This would be the case in a perfect world which is only a fiction and does not exist. Once people learn to be more tolerant, we might get nearer to a perfect world.

[Roer]

Well said Reteid.