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news
Justice (Lonpicman, Wikimedia Commons)Tipper truck driver who hit and killed pregnant schoolteacher after 'sudden' turn handed suspended sentence
A lorry driver has been handed a nine-month suspended sentence, community service and a one-year driving ban after admitting causing the death of a cyclist by careless driving in September 2017. Jason Edmunds, 44, failed to indicate before he hit pregnant schoolteacher Charlotte Landi, who was on her way to work at the Hampshire School in Chelsea.
The London Evening Standard reports that Landi was cycling to work when Edmunds took a “sudden” decision to turn left at the junction of Grosvenor Road and Chelsea Bridge, cutting across her path.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu said: “The defendant began to move forward after the traffic lights turned green, but not as soon as they turned green.
“She was capable of being seen through the front, near-side camera and the side mirror. He was avoidably distracted at the time the traffic lights turned green and in the moments that followed.
“He began to turn left, he had still not indicated his left turn. This meant that Mrs Landi would have been unaware of the defendant’s intention to turn left.
“By the time the collision occurred, Mrs Landi had been visible on the CCTV monitor for approximately twelve seconds. It seemed to the driver of the vehicle behind the defendant that his turn to the left was sudden.”
Sandhu said that according to another onlooker’s statement, “The speed of the turn was fast and was aggressive in nature.”
Edmunds did not know he had hit Landi until alerted by witnesses.
He told police: “I was sitting at the lights, I checked my mirrors to turn, I checked my mirrors... I don’t know what happened.”
He told the officer who interviewed him that his decision to turn left had not been a late one; that he checked his mirrors when driving and especially at junctions; and that he always looked out for cyclists.
Kwaku Awuku-Asabre, defending Edmunds, said he had suffered from depression since the incident and there were fears he would take his own life. He had given up work and run up substantial debts instead of claiming benefits.
Judge Jeffrey Pegden, QC, sentencing, said: “The degree of danger, in my judgement, was heightened by the very nature of the vehicle you were driving, that tipper truck.
“For some unclear reason you were avoidably distracted. I emphasise though that the cause of the distraction is unknown – it is not suggested, for example, that you were looking at a mobile phone or anything of the kind.”
Explaining the decision to impose only a suspended sentence, he added: “Because of your apparent mental fragility, I have just come to the conclusion that that sentence of nine months can be and should be suspended for a period of two years.”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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23 comments
What a joke,he meant it just didn't mean to kill her,you see it everyday on your bike people driving really close with road rage,then when they kill or knock someone off they are crying in the dock, definitely needs jail untill people start getting sent down for a long time we will not be save on the roads.
Looking on the generous side if one accepts the statements of the defence; it goes to show how by failing to enforce and instill correct driving habits, every one suffers. It is all so unneccesary.
Another case of many showing the low value of the life of cyclists. There was another case where a guy got 9 months for killing a cyclist. Easy pickings.
The mind boggles. No wonder we (cyclists) are second class citizens on the roads. The new smokers, single-parents etc etc
So was she cycling along side the lorry or undertaking it?
Sounds like she was overtaking it, and he turned right. Come to think of it I rarely expect that happening to me if I've ever been in that situation.
Without wishing to cast aspersions on your comprehension, it says three times in the article that he turned left, LEFT; not right. While I'm happy to read anyone's contribution, I really don't want to waste my time reading comments from cretins who haven't even bothered to read the article first and just make stuff up.
i understood it as her going straight ahead, presuming he was too (was she in a painted cycle lane hence why she could be seen to have been "undertaking ") and then he turned left without indicating.
Rather harsh. I don't think misreading 'left' for 'right' in an article constitutes cretiinism. If it had been a right turn, I think it would have been unusual. I suppose drivers are more prone to check to their right than their left? Another failure of driving instructors, perhaps?
Anyway, as always, a killer driver gets more lenient treatment than would any other kind of killer. And a one-year-ban is just pathetic.
The fact that bans are so hard to enforce emphasises that cars having licence plates is of very limited value - it doesn't tell anyone who is driving the vehicle and whether they might not be legally-entitled to do so. And has there ever been a study of compliance with such bans? I'm suspicious that they are in fact widely ignored.
And yet so many motorists cry that cyclists always get away with stuff and need to have licence plates so they can be properly identified and punished. Ironic, really...
The driver had her in his CCTV for 12 seconds TWELVE IF HE HAD LOOKED!!! Go drive on a road, make a turn and all the whilst keep your eyes closed, that's essentially what the killer did. Whatever the innocent victim did we know it had zero effect on the outcome, it would have been brought up, we know she is innocent because a court of law has found without any doubt that he was the killer.
Speculating as to whether she could have done something different to stop being crushed to death is offensive frankly.
I seriously think England or the UK really don't care about cyclist at all as people. I read these articles and how the driver get away with killing someone with little to no punishment
The judge needs to seriously think about the message they are sending by giving this sentence. Feel bad about what you did? Oh, that's okay then.... wtf!!
Why isn't this all over the media?
Can the family appeal the sentence? I would happily contribute to a fund to help pay for one.
Careless driving charge is a fucking joke to start with, I can only hope the judge gets crushed by a lorry in similar circumstances and then we can say well it's only a little bit naughty/careless so your life is not really worth anything.
Sentence is clearly not appropriate and should be challenged if possible, it's an utter disgrace!
Government focusing on punishing cyclists and this crap just happens every week to cyclists, they are utterly contemptable and complicit in the deaths and carnage.
It makes you so mad!
For what is supposed to be an era of "war on motorists" a lot of cyclists seem to be getting killed. Almost as if it has been misnamed, and the real victims aren't the ones paying a few pence more on a liter of petrol, occasionally being told to give other road users more space, and being slapped on the wrists if they end two lives because they couldn't give enough of a shit to look out for their fellow human beings.
How can an "avoidable distraction" also be "unclear"? If its unclear why he was distracted, then it was avoidable. If it was something clear - his trousers caght fire or something - then that might be avoidable... I'm sorry he's developed depression or PTSD or whatever, but ultimately he was at fault for the death of a pregnant woman. Unless he was a sociopath, I'd bl00dy well EXPECT him to suffer depression, etc!
Sentence is a joke. I think the fact this happened on a cycle super highway should be considered an aggravating factor - it’s not like the presence of cyclists is a surprise given the blue road paint and extensive signage.
But looking at this junction it’s clear it’s another example of cycling infrastructure “giving up” when it gets difficult. The cycle lane disappears at the junction and cyclists either merge back with traffic or take to the pavement (which is designated dual use). Something needs to be done to provide more protection to cyclists at this junction.
While I can agree that in some cases prison is not the best option, in this case he has clearly taken his actions hard, and in likelyhood will never drive commercially again, a one year ban is insufficient.
Maybe introducing theiur licence back in stages. During the period of the ban they attend driver training involving taking trips out with an experienced cyclist to experience life as a vulnerable road user, then after passing a more in depth test can get a car licence. Commercial driving should mean retaking their commercial licence testing not simply be handed it back.
Anyone banned from driving for dangerous driving, careless (reckless) driving or similar, and all drink drivers, should have to resit their test from scratch. Simply handing back a licence is not enough.
I would rather those jail places be kept for the drivers who are actively agressive towards other road users, causing death or not.
Another lenient sentence. Whilst I doubt locking people up does much good in many cases, a one year ban is a fucking joke. And a very bad one, at that.
Couldn't agree more, and a one year ban after you've killed someone entirely through your own fault is just pathetic. Whatever the rights or wrongs of avoiding a prison sentence, the ban is totally ridiculous. I've long held the view that the minimum ban should be however long it takes your victim to recover, and if you killed someone, you never drive again.
Id agree but how do you enforce it ? and what should the penalties be for breaking it, as I read about a case earlier this month where a driver who was already serving a 3 year driving ban after he had caused a crash which killed his passenger, was caught driving again.
the result the courts handed down, well they just extended his ban for another 10months...didnt even charge him driving with no insurance, or providing false details when he was stopped, and didnt activate his suspended jail term, because of the hardships it would cause to his partner.
What has this country come to where a driver can merely claim that he was distracted, that he is mentally fragile and has not worked because of the accident in order to avoid jail for killing somebody? Where is the deterrent, where is the justice and what on earth has happened to the judiciary in these cases? This sends out a message to all motorists that maiming or killing a cyclist is no big deal. This sentence badly needs reviewing.