Today, two men were sentenced to four years in prison for ‘inciting disorder’ on facebook.
There is not much information about what was actually written on facebook by the pair, but apparently one of them set up a facebook page calling for a riot in Warrington town centre. There was no actual riot. I have to admit, setting up a page like that would be pretty stupid, but four years? Seriously, people get a lot less for a lot worse.
A ROAD safety charity has criticised the sentence given to a woman who walked free from court after causing the death of a father-of-two in a four-car smash between Sheffield and Barnsley.
Civil servant Yasmin Madigan, aged 46, who has four speeding convictions, was on her way to work when she tried to overtake a lorry in her Vauxhall Astra on Westwood New Road, Tankersley.
She pulled into the path of 47-year-old Michael Selwood’s Audi A3, sending it spinning into oncoming traffic, Barnsley magistrates heard. Mr Selwood, of Monk Bretton, Barnsley, died in hospital.
…
The court heard Madigan was convicted of speeding a day before the fatal smash last September. She also picked up speeding convictions in February, 2008, May 2009 and April 2010 and her own grandfather died in a road accident near the scene of the crash.
Prosecutor Ian Conway said she had a “propensity for bad driving and disregard for other road users”. He said: “She was intent on overtaking the lorry and crossed a solid white overtaking line.”
Allan Armbrister, defending, said Madigan, of Thorncliffe Way, Tankersley, felt “remorse and sorrow” and hoped Mr Selwood’s family would forgive her.
He added: “The defendant has to live with the fact someone was killed. She never wants to drive again.”
Mr Marks said the custody threshold had been passed but suspended the sentence. Madigan was given six months, suspended for 18 months, 220 hours of unpaid community work and was banned from driving for three years.
We have entered a new world of political prosecutions here. Recently, another man was arrested for organising a flash-mob water fight on Blackberry Messenger. This is something that compares to arrests by the Iranian authorities a fortnight ago, who arrested a group taking part in a water pistol fight!
There is also the case of Hollie Bentley. The 19 year old was arrested by Police who accused her of encouraging violent disorder. According to reports, she posted ‘Who’s up for it?’ on facebook…
Now I’m sure I wouldn’t need to look far to find a multitude of people on twitter and facebook encouraging violence towards looters or various other individuals or groups.
So where is this line being drawn? How do we prevent the state using such powers to prevent people organising a protest? What about freedom of speech?
LikeTags: law & order, police, social media, uk riots
The CPS have released a statement with further information about the pages concerned: http://blog.cps.gov.uk/2011/08.....media.html
Obviously some of the facts about mr selwoods death have been sensationalised. The only thing the convicted driver did on that day was not look over her shoulder and only in her mirrors when overtaking whilst driving well below the speed limit on that road. New investigations into mr selwoods speed just prior to the accident estimate him to be going 80-90 mph. Unfortunately this evidence wasn’t available at the time of the trial and not calculated by police investigators. Obviously they could not convict mr selwood but still have targets to meet and present the evidence in a way to secure these regardless of the facts. Additionally the story only appears to be only sensationalised in papers mr charlton editor of the Yorkshire post is associated with, even carrying a picture of mr charlton. They stated that he was also injured but this was never mentioned in the court case the story relates to. Interestingly mr charlton is persuing a civil case for emotional damage caused from the accident. Other local reports in the court report a much fairer portrail of the case.
Now can every driver Reading this hand on heart say they check over their shoulder EVERY single time they overtake to make sure somebody isn’t flying up behind them at over 80 mph in wet conditions??
Thank you for your comment.
I’m afraid you’re talkng to a motorbike rider here, so I regularly check blind spots and I wish other drivers would do the same.
Here is another one. 12 months for causing the death of a cyclist, with the judge saying he would serve 6 months. He bent over to pick up a sat-nav… http://www.shropshirestar.com/.....y-cyclist/
I am not saying that people shouldn’t check their blind spot and I am certainly more aware of doing it now. What I am saying and what I have learnt is that you can’t judge every case until you know the facts and every case should be taken on it’s merits. And it is a fact that after talking to an experienced driving instructor that it is not even taught to look in the blind spot everytime. I am curious as to what the road safety charity would have said about mr selwoods speed had they have know when they made their comments. Even if the blind spot had been checked it is unlikely that that he would have been seen. New evidence also proves that he had had time to brake before the vehicle moved out indicating that he was far enough back to react to the indicator before the vehicle pulled out. The only reason he couldn’t avoid the accident and may not have been seen was his very excessive speed.
I would not like to comment on any other rtc’s as I am not party to the full facts.
I do agree that the 4 years for the facebookers is rediculous though.
I agree with your points about the case I highlighted. To be fair, perhaps the sentence she received was a bit more appropriate, given the circumstances you have raised. Perhaps there will be an apeal?
It is a shame the driving test isn’t more rigorous. It does not include motorway driving either, despite this being a common feature of driving in modern britain.
I don’t think the sentenced lady wants to put mr selwoods family through anymore regardless of what sentence she recieved. She also showed full remorse at the scene telling everybody it was her fault, as petrol was leaking from the car and everybody else stood back in case it exploded she was desperately trying to open the doors until the fire crews arrived.
Compare that to an incident last year on the same road where a woman tied a double bed to the roof of her car with an old washing line she found in the garden. Needless to say the bed fell of and caused the death of a lady who swerved to avoid it. She pleaded not guilty and got off scot free and is free to drive around remorse free. Compare this premeditated act of danger to road users to a momentry lapse in concentration of not checking for a speeding driver. I think you should look that case up if you want to show injustice.
I think most of all it highlights that driving is dangerous even for the safest drivers and sometimes these things just happen. Only a few years ago the incident would have been treated as a road accident. But as we know accidents do not happen these days there must always be someone to blame regardless of facts and common sense
mick selwood was my friend,killed by an idle and stupid person,
too lazy to look over their shoulder.no intent,but not fit to
drive a vehicle ,seems to love speed and disreguards limits.fate
is sending you a calling card,wise up.i could hate you but mick
would not want that.mistakes happen to everybody,complacency,but
his children will not understand that until they are so much older.
There was no speed involved in the driving of the covicted driver on that day. Mr Selwood it has subsequently come to light was driving at a speed that would probably involved an instant driving ban in gloomy hazardeous driving conditions. At the end of the day speed kills. Had he not been driving at this speed his car would have been more visible, he would have had time to react to the indicating vehicle infront of him and the impact with other vehicles would not have been fatal.
I am sure there is not a driver in this country who can honestly say that say that after regularly checking there mirrors check over there shoulder everytime they move to overtake. But I certainly do now to ensure there isn’t somebody going 20 – 30 mph above a 60mph speed limit. Incidently all the convicted drivers previous driving convictions were for less than 10 mph above a 30mph speed limit, not the extremely excessive speed of 20 – 30 mph above a 60 mph limit.
Road accidents usually happen due to either/or a combination of excessive speed, lack of observation, lack of anticipation or poor drving conidtions. The conditions were poor. The convicted driver was guilty of one of the other factors where Mr Selwood demonstrated of all of the above.
Re M Bickertons comments ,,I have a distant connection with the driver involved in this accident that killed Sellwood , she should have never have been convicted . Sellwood was driving at a ridiculous speed that endangered other road users lives as well as their own , unfortunately his actions cost him his own life, but nobody elses, Madigan showed bravery beyond the call as she ran through petrol to try to help Mr sellwood .So lets have less of the old pals act and get back to the reality of what happened. If Madigan had waited for the investigation to finish and Mr selwoods speed had come in front of the court, Then a not guilty verdict would have followed . In saying all of this , lets not forget the many lives that have changed forever , Family ,Friends of Mr Sellwood , and Mrs Madigan and her family , Who i know will live with this tragedy forever, So remember.. When you are 5 minutes late for the office….Speed Kills,,, Its better to be late in this world than early in the next
To Aj
On the day of the collision ,i was attending other incidents on the M1,incident support officer,so old pals act is purile,been
there ,still looking after genuine accidents and people who should not be awarded a licence,but somebodys got to clear up the mess.By all means please correspond to my reply but i sweep up the blood etc…and saw his brave daughter read a poem about her father and laugh and then cry.I am not seeking blame,I am seeking honesty and understanding.The winner is the law agent,
both families lose,whatever their views may be.
We all aporton blame,some live with it,some die with it
I aportion no blame,old pals act,i clear up the mess of
individuals,tell me what do you do.
Lets have this conversation vis a vis,i’m intriged.
!!!!!!!!!
RE m Bickerton. I drive for a living, so we both probably see bad driving on a daily basis , you probably more than me . and you have the unenviable task of dealing with the after effects.
My father was killed by an uninsured, untaxed, unlicensed driver whilst he was crossing the road . he was tossed around 60 feet and died later in hospital . this was in 1986 when the laws were different and he received a paltry sentence. As a 20 year old , seeing him lying on a mortuary slab with the tubes still in him will haunt me till the day i die.
Anyway . Firstly i must apologise for the “old Pals act” comment . I dont really know what else to sayat the moment.