Cycling in and around Birmingham England

Only 17 months for this ?

Bristol bus driver side swipes cyclist

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Permalink Reply by John KIRK on February 16, 2012 at 16:43

What does a driver have to do to get a meaningful sentence, shoot a cyclist ?

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Permalink Reply by Andy Wood on February 16, 2012 at 16:50

I just put this up as well, deleted it when I saw I was beaten to it!

Never seen anything quite as bad. Makes my heart race.

17 months in prison is not a disaster, it's comparable with other fairly serious crimes.

However, does anyone know if he will be banned from driving and for how long? In my mind he should never be allowed to drive anything ever again (apart from a bike of course), but I suspect he'll probably just get a short ban running concurrently with the jail term, as seems to be the case normally.

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Permalink Reply by John KIRK on February 16, 2012 at 17:59

This amounts to assault with a deadly weapon, not "dangerous" driving.No matter how bad the argument that might have preceded this incident it is totally crazy. he should be banned for life.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah-Jane on February 16, 2012 at 18:32

From the Bristol local paper site;

He sobbed as he was jailed for 17 months at Bristol Crown Court today by a judge who said: “This was not an accident, it was an assault.”

Hill, who was fired after the incident, was also disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years and ordered to pass an extended driving test before getting behind the wheel again.

So if it was an assault, why wasn't he charged with that?

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Permalink Reply by John KIRK on February 16, 2012 at 21:09

Part of the problem the criminal system has with this type of incident is that the law is pretty limited when it comes to driving offences, even when as blatantly dangerous and intentional as this.

Sarah-Jane Watkinson said:

From the Bristol local paper site;

He sobbed as he was jailed for 17 months at Bristol Crown Court today by a judge who said: “This was not an accident, it was an assault.”

Hill, who was fired after the incident, was also disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years and ordered to pass an extended driving test before getting behind the wheel again.

So if it was an assault, why wasn't he charged with that?

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Permalink Reply by Philip Eddington on February 16, 2012 at 22:09

I'd love to know how come he was not charged with attempt murder for this. All I can say is what an idiot. I wonder if the charge would have been different if the cyclist had gone under the bus. If Hil had got out and smacked him with a hammer surely that would have been attempted murder. Some times the law is an ass and its even worse when seen to be one too.

I'm sure there are legal guys on site site judging by some of the content of other posts so it would be interesting to hear thier view on this.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Holland on February 16, 2012 at 23:15

One report I've read says he's been banned for two and half years.

Andy Wood said:

I just put this up as well, deleted it when I saw I was beaten to it!

Never seen anything quite as bad. Makes my heart race.

17 months in prison is not a disaster, it's comparable with other fairly serious crimes.

However, does anyone know if he will be banned from driving and for how long? In my mind he should never be allowed to drive anything ever again (apart from a bike of course), but I suspect he'll probably just get a short ban running concurrently with the jail term, as seems to be the case normally.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cooper on February 16, 2012 at 23:56

Pity that for the first year of his ban he'll be in prison.

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Permalink Reply by James Lee on February 17, 2012 at 6:42

This means he can't be the Governer's chauffeur.

What custodial sentance is appropriate for one cyclist who pushes another cyclist off his bike?

What custodial sentance is appropriate for a cyclist who attempts to push a bus off the road?

Steve Cooper said:

Pity that for the first year of his ban he'll be in prison.

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Permalink Reply by Jon Ingram on February 17, 2012 at 7:34

I guess it would depend on if he broke the bus driver's leg, risked killing him and flattened his vehicle - or not.

James Lee said:

What custodial sentance is appropriate for one cyclist who pushes another cyclist off his bike?

What custodial sentance is appropriate for a cyclist who attempts to push a bus off the road?

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Permalink Reply by Ian-C on February 17, 2012 at 9:29

i guess on the brighter side if their is one he did get a prison sentence all be it possibly not long enough but it was better than do gooder community service.

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Permalink Reply by Tim Beasley on February 17, 2012 at 10:11

As a "legal guy" here's my 2 cents.

To get a conviction for attempted murder you have to prove intent to kill - nothing less than that. You can bet the bus driver did not tell the police that he intended to kill the cyclist, so that leaves you inferring intent from the action itself. For sure, if a motorist was to deliberately knock down a cyclist or pedestrian and then coldly reverse back over the victim again you could infer the intent from the action but short of that, the CPS are reluctant to prosecute.

There are 2 offences known as "GBH". One is "wounding with intent" and the other is "wounding". The former is where you intend to cause really serious harm, short of intending to kill and the other is where you cause really serious harm although that was not your intention. You intended your action which resulted in really serious harm though you did not intend to cause really serious harm.

The reality is that this was a nailed down case of dangerous driving. Years ago their was an offence of "reckless driving" which was repealed and replaced with an offence of dangerous driving. This was because the law got bogged down with meanings of "recklessness". Dangerous driving is objective. Whatever the intention of the bus driver, clearly his driving was dangerous. Anyone could tell that from the video. So in this case I am sure that the CPS and the Police went for the charge that was easiest to make stick.

Philip Eddington said:

I'd love to know how come he was not charged with attempt murder for this. All I can say is what an idiot. I wonder if the charge would have been different if the cyclist had gone under the bus. If Hil had got out and smacked him with a hammer surely that would have been attempted murder. Some times the law is an ass and its even worse when seen to be one too.

I'm sure there are legal guys on site site judging by some of the content of other posts so it would be interesting to hear thier view on this.