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news
Barry Meyer (picture Metropolitan Police)Tipper truck driver who killed cyclist Alan Neve jailed for three and a half years
The driver of a tipper truck involved in the death of a London cyclist in July 2013 has been jailed for three and a half years and banned from driving for 10 years.
Barry Meyer, aged 53 and of Aubrey Road, E17, pleaded guilty in April to causing the death of cyclist Alan Neve in July 2013 by careless driving and driving while uninsured and unlicensed.
Last month, Blackfriars Crown Court heard that Meyer, who had been banned from driving five times and had two previous convictions for drunk driving, had jumped a red light as he tried to keep up with a colleague driving another truck in front of him.
Sentencing him today, Judge Daniel Worsley told Meyer: "It's an understatement to say the impact of the harm you caused was devastating beyond all measure,” reports the London Evening Standard.
"But nothing I can do or say can bring back Mr Neve or undo the horror your careless caused.
"The degree of your carelessness was in my judgement about as high as the court may ever have to deal with for this offence for causing death by careless driving, as opposed to causing death by dangerous driving.
"You have a sustained history of driving offences showing wretched disregard for the safety of road users."
At the original hearing, he told Meyer that he had a “shocking driving history,” with the lorry driver only changing his plea once the judge said that his past record would be disclosed to the jury.
After today’s sentence was handed down, Detective Sergeant Cheryl Frost, of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: "I would like to express my gratitude to the family of Alan Neve.
“They have carried themselves with the utmost dignity throughout this process which has lasted almost two years. It has been an extremely difficult time for them but their desire to assist us and support this investigation is testament to their strength."
In a statement, Mr Neve’s family said: “Alan was a kind, loving, optimistic, law-abiding man who had many years of life ahead of him.
“It was his great misfortune to travel the same route as Mr Meyer on Monday 15th July 2013.
“Many people have been deeply affected by Alan's death. We are relieved that there has finally been an end to this process and that there is some sense of justice for Alan.
“Alan will never ever be forgotten.”
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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38 comments
operators license holder
Alan John Drummond
9 north side, river road, barking IG11 0DS
transport manager who didn't check his licence correctly
colin frank drummond
and they have 5 trucks on there operators licence.....so give them a wide berth
Judge Daniel worsley was suprised that the company had not properly checked his licence
Why would they? It has long been established that the police simply don't care about such things. They are preventing the proprietor of the firm being brought to justice for this offence (by not requesting the CPS/HSE investigate), so why would they suddenly reverse their position?
Is this judge especially inexperienced in cases where drivers kill people? Is he inexperienced in road traffic offence prosecutions? Experiencing such surprise indicates that he is quite a naive judge.
I expect such lack of checks to be more or less the norm, judging by the appalling standard of driving from "professional" drivers, much of which seems to indicate that the driver cannot possibly have passed any kind of test involving the vehicle they are "controlling".
An appeal to Mr Gove any use?
If the LCC have the operator number right then it's not hard to find the operator with a search on the VOSA website.
Considering how many times this "professional" driver has offended in the past, the sentence makes a mockery of the UK legal system.
I have already written to the Courts to ask for a review of the sentence. I know it only takes one person to do this, but if a lot of us ask to be kept informed, the admin costs will make the courts think again about the maximum sentence next time (and there will be a next time) this guy offends.
My thoughts are with Alan Neve's family. Please help give them some justice, take action and write to the courts too. It could happen to any of us.
https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-low-crown-court-sentence
Fundamentally there need to be more traffic police. If you think you will get caught the risk of driving whilst disqualified becomes a risk some won't take.
The likelihood of being pulled over currently is virtually nill, unless you break some other law.
Requested review, done!
The harm that this careless driving caused was made clear by the impact statement from Alan's widow. It was read out in court by the prosecuting barrister Miss Hunter. It is a tragic statement; she says: "It is impossible to fully convey how Alan's death has affected me." She recalls how she visited him at least once a day in the chapel of rest before the funeral. She describes how when living with Alan her "life used to be vividly and richly coloured and now it is black and white."
heart breaking
This is why this scum should swing from the end of a rope. He is a total waste of space and I object to him breathing any air for what he has done to this man and destroyed the deceased's family, for it was heinous and after a string of other serious driving offences. In the dock should have been all the public officials and the Company who employed him and who all fucked up allowing this guy to ever be behind the steering wheel of a huge great truck in the first place.
RIP Mr Neve and condolences to his grieving family and friends. Awful.
let me retract my earlier claim - the name I have been given doesn't match up with the details of the case (I have a company name, but it didn't exist in 2013).
Apparently London Cycle Campaign are on to this, and writing to the transport commissioner. They have listed a license which they think is linked to the employer (note that they are cautious not to state this as fact, or to name the employer). Story here: http://lcc.org.uk/articles/lawless-and-selfish-lorry-driver-sentenced-to...
Copy of LCC's letter here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/lcc_production_bucket/files/8915/original.pdf?14...
Surely lifetime revocation of the privilege of driving could be made to work if we used technology properly.
The employer has been named in court. Can anyone let me know if it is OK if I list the name on this forum, or would that get me and Road.CC into trouble?
If it was mentioned in court then it's on public record, nothing to be worried about.
@the little onion - please spill, i have a second interview this afternoon with a contracting company, i would be a shame if it were them
I hope the police also keep a very watchful eye on the firm involved. My guess is that a firm that would employ someone with such an appalling driving history probably has other multiple issues. At best it's probably poorly run and its vehicle fleet badly maintained. At worst it may well be a cover for other activities.
I have a lot of sympathy for the family of the victim. Nothing will ever repair the damage done.
Unfortunately, the HSE and police have to use more than wild and uninformed speculation to proceed with a case.
Not so uninformed or wild. I don't know the firm involved in this incident but I do know quite a bit about the sector. It is of note that many of the incidents involving heavy vehicles in London relate to the same small group of companies and/or people. Vehicle checks are not hard to do and neither are checks on how a firm is run. If there are suspicions then they can and should be acted on.
Look at the LCC's letter regarding the affair in the Little Onion's post and what it says about the transport manager concerned.
The family of the victim in this instance could perhaps gain some comfort if not only the driver was punished (as has happened), but those responsible for him being behind the wheel.
Scoob_84 -
you have the offence of aid and abet no insurance also aid, abet driving otherwise in accordance with a licence and aid and abet drive whilst disqualified is another one.
Ultimately though that would be towards a person rather than a company.
The problem with lifetime bans is that so many people ignore them.
It only comes up as an issue when something bad happens and/or they are stopped by the police for something and suddenly it comes to light that they were driving whilst banned.
I guess it would be a little extra to go toward sentencing for a traffic offence, if the accused was *also* driving whilst banned, but I don't think that a ban actually keeps people off the road.
Not really sure what would...
Engine immobiliser linked to a biometric recognotion system and the DVLA database. Expensive and inconvenient, but less so than letting killers loose on the roads.
Or aman extension of Sharia law - low tech, requiring only a sharp thing.
Driving while banned should result in
a) an immediate custodial sentence
b) the vehicle being confiscated
even if no other offence has been committed (well, they'd automatically be driving without insurance...)
a) is necessary because people currently just get another ban for driving while banned...
b) would make sure employers get an automatic penalty. Tipper trucks aren't that cheap, so it would ensure employers check that drivers are licensed.
Agreed the company should be held accountable for allowing this to take place. But are they legally required to check their drivers licence status when employing them? I'm guessing that there probably isn't a law in place since they didnt get called up in front of the judge. Disgraceful that they get away with this and don't even get named and shamed.
Lifetime bans will not work.
The HSE will be the ones who decide on any company being prosecuted when it comes to the likes of corporate manslaughter and that may yet come to fruition as the company have not been named so it maybe that the HSE are still compiling a case.
At this point all we can do is hope he serves a full sentence.
Anyone know how we can get a review of the decision not to prosecute his employer? To me, this is the greater miscarriage of justice. The construction industry can't just wash its hands of responsibility.
What an absolute disgrace, as has been mentioned the driving ban means sod all, he has shown his complete disregard for bans.
The jail term is a joke, he should be in for 10 - 15yrs that would send the right message. To coin a phrase if that's justice I'm a banana.
The only sentence fit for this scum is to hang from the end of a rope.
"The lorry firm was not named in court. It is understood police have decided not to prosecute - which caused concern from the judge."
How is that not a case for Corporate Manslaughter?
Where are the HSE on this?
Its not down to the police to decide to prosecute. Its for the police to pass all evidence to the CPS, who then decide if theres a case to pursue.
This has become a worrying trend with the police and it needs to stop.
Questions need to be asked as to how he was allowed in the cab in the first place. Yes, he may well have lied to get that job. But someone else didn't do their job by checking on his history.
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