A motorist who lied to police about his car being stolen when he hit and killed a teenage cyclists has admitted perverting the course of justice and faces jail.
He will not face any other charges relating to the cyclist's death, however.
Robert Lawrence, from Teynham, was driving his Fiat Bravo car when he hit Kyle Coen, 14. We reported Kyle's death back in July last year. The car was subsequently recovered by police, at 9.15pm on the evening of 30 July.
Lawrence failed to stop after the accident and then telephoned police to claim his car had been stolen.
According to Kent Online, Lawrence will not be tried for killing the cyclist. Judge Charles Macdonald QC asked: "Will there be any proceedings as a result of the collision?"
Gary Pons, prosecuting, replied: "No, it was investigated for approximately six months and the decision was that no proceedings be brought for that."
Requesting pre-sentence reports, Tamsin Ryder, defending, said Lawrence had been warned that a prison sentence was a real possibility.
"He has entered a very timely guilty plea," she said. "It is obviously a serious charge."
The judge said: ""It does look like shortish custody at the moment."
14 thoughts on “Hit and run driver who said car was stolen faces jail”
Clearly lying is a more
Clearly lying is a more serious crime than killing someone.
This is a shameful example of
This is a shameful example of how cynical the judicial system is. It’s obviously cheaper, easier and more certain to get a conviction for perverting the course of justice than killing another road user. The defendant should be prosecuted and penalised for both offences – not losing his licence is an outrage.
Words fail me, but obviously
Words fail me, but obviously not as much as the CPS is failing decency honesty etc etc
Any death caused while a
Any death caused while a crime is being committed, or which has taken place within the bounds of a later crime (in this case perverting the course) should be treated as a capital crime and the perpetrator should face life in prison. The CPS should no longer have any choice in the matter.
These stories depress me
These stories depress me beyond belief. The CPS should be taken to court to explain the decision not to prosecute the initial incident. The police should be taken to court to explain what exactly they “investigated” for 6 months. The driver hit someone and left the scene, not bothering to find out how bad they injured the cyclist. What if they could have been saved? Why is it not manslaughter to start with? Disgraceful showing as usual from the “justice” department. Sadly it won’t be the last.
I give up – I really
I give up – I really do!!!
What does a criminal have to do to a cyclist before the law prosecutes them to its fullest extent, makes an example out of them and goes some way toward reassuring us cyclists that, yes, the law actually is on our side?????
This b’stard killed a young kid, lied about it, shamefacedly ran off like the coward he is and now will get a lenient sentence for a life that he stole from a young kid.
Now I don’t know the facts – whose fault was it? Was the youngster to blame? Or was it pure driver error, drunkenness, or what?
But the sentence surely has to be – a massive fine of £000s, driving ban of two years, test to be retaken, a year in prison – at the very least – and the threat of another strike and you’re out – harm, hurt, injure or kill any other cyclist at any future time and you will be banned from driving for life.
But the guy is probably on benefits, with his whole life being paid for out of the public purse – that’s yours and my taxes. Fine him and he won’t pay – few ever do. Did he have tax and insurance on his car? Most don’t. Ban him and he’ll still drive – most do.
And there you have it. We ride in a world that simply doesn’t give a shit. Not about cyclists and very little about anything else. Themselves is their only obsession. Respect for others, dignified behaviour, care and concern – where is that?
Appalling ignorance is absolutely EVERYWHERE and it is most certainly behind the wheels of many cars and their arsehole drivers that I encounter on the roads.
How can you possibly reason with a shithead who behaves with such grossly inhuman insensitivity?
And the law doesn’t ever seem to want to. Not ever. The mandate to the law makers is crystal clear – MAKE THE SENTENCE FIT THE GRAVITY OF THE CRIME!!!! And help save the world from shitheads.
comm88 wrote:I give up – I
Comm88- The rest of your post was spot on-but why the line about “probably on benefits”? Where did that come from- you have made a massive assumption and introduced an unneeded and massively insulting element to the tread. Let’s save the demonisation for the driver and the legal system that means actions such as in the article go unpunished.
How do the CPS sleep at
How do the CPS sleep at night?
Presumably the person in
Presumably the person in charge of this case at the CPS had the sun in his eyes when he decided not to bring charges for the cyclist’s death. Or someone stole his case files and made the decision for him. Either that, or they have been told that prosecuting everyone who kills or seriously injures someone on the roads would be like putting every officer in the German army on trial after WW3, and the required safety measures to prevent the carnage would cripple our car-dependent economy, so unless someone causes a 15-car pileup then pisses on the graves of their victims, or is cheeky to a judge, then they should be given as much slack as possible.
Add to the list of names
Add to the list of names X( Offer the MP’s a blank written expenses receipt and then see if they can intervene and do something about this as they seem to do very f@#*ing little if you ask them to do it normally.
“It was decided not to
“It was decided not to prosecute the killing because cyclists are second class citizens whose lives are worthless and anyway the Crown Prosecution Service is staffed by talentless fuckwits who aren’t smart enough to put a case together, because let’s face it, if they were they’d be working in law firms.”
failed to stop after the
Accident? Oh well, that’s fine then. Thanks Sarah. Not a collision, crash, smash, incident, just an accident, one of those things.
I am speechless!
I am speechless!
A post from Minty on another
A post from Minty on another similar story:
If you want to help it stop then go to this website. http://www.e-activist.com/ea-campaign/broadcast.response.do?ea.url.id=15…
posted by Minty [22 posts] 12th July 2013 – 16: