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news
Manchester Crown Court (licensed CC-BY-2.0-SA by Mikey on Flickr)Make pedestrians wear reflective clothing, says 'Mr Loophole' lawyer who defended killer driver
A lawyer nicknamed ‘Mr Loophole’ who has helped a string of celebrity clients avoid being convicted of motoring offences says that pedestrians should have to wear high-visibility clothing at night.
He made his comments after a man he represented was sentenced for causing the death through careless driving of a rabbi in Manchester, reports the Daily Express.
Hyman Steinberg, known as Chaim, was rushing on foot to his synagogue on Leicester Road in Salford in poor weather in December 2012 when he was struck by a car driven by 24-year-old Simon Martins.
He died in hospital from head injuries later that day, his 83rd birthday.
Martins has received an eight-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the charge at Manchester Crown Court.
His lawyer, Nick Freeman, says that if the victim, who was dressed in black in accordance with his orthodox Jewish beliefs, had been wearing reflective clothing, he may not have been killed.
He has called on politicians to make it compulsory for pedestrians to wear such clothing in the hours of darkness.
Following the hearing, Mr Freeman said: "Had Mr Steinberg been wearing something reflective, this tragic collision might well have been averted.
"Sadly, because he was invisible, Mr Steinberg has lost his life.
"His family are left distraught, the community has been robbed of a much loved and respected rabbi and a young man must now live with the guilt for the rest his life.
"The time has now come for the government to require pedestrians to effectively light up at night.
"We are now living in hard-pressed economic times, when councils are saving money by switching off street lights at night.
"I'm not suggesting everyone must wear a hi-vis jacket - but something reflective that would give them a visible presence, such as a vest, arm bands or belt.
"Pedestrians, motorists and cyclists all share road space and in my view must assume responsibility for their visibility."
The Manchester-based lawyer acquired his nickname, which he has trademarked, through his ability to get clients off charges related to motoring offences typically because correct procedures have not been followed or because of some other technicality.
Among celebrity-based clients he has successfully represented are the footballers David Beckham and Wayne Rooney as well as former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, musicians Van Morrison and Ian Brown, and motoring journalists Tiff Needell and Jeremy Clarkson.
Alfa Romeo sent the latter a speeding ticket in 2007 after a car it had lent him was clocked travelling at 82mph on the A40 in Ruislip, West London, where the speed limit is 50mph.
However, Clarkson was found not guilty and was awarded costs in the case due to the prosecution’s failure to establish the identity of the driver at the wheel of the vehicle, according to a BBC report at the time.
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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65 comments
I thought the article was primarily about someone being an obnoxious and manipulative wanker whose client killed someone myself... fair game i'd say.
Don't get me wrong. It's deserved. I meant the comments at the foot of the newspaper article. If the victim had been riding a bike the bile may well have been directed differently, is my point.
Today I rode past a field where seedlings were being planted. Hereabouts this is done by four or five people sitting in an enclosure carried on the back of a tractor dropping the plants into a chute which carries them down to a planting mechanism. I would guess these people were from Poland or one of the Baltic states. They all wore hiviz, as did a woman waiting by the trailer carrying more seedlings ready to load on the planting tractor.
I suppose it is easy to make employees wear hiviz, even if it is absurd. It is also a substitute for providing safe working conditions.
I'm actually glad he said this, and I hope the mainstream media pick it up. Of course, not because I agree with him.
When anyone goes on about hiviz for cyclists, I've always asked them whether they wear hi-viz as a pedestrian, as they are advised to do in the highway code.
I hate the ever growing encroachment of hideous hi-viz vests in society, they seem to be everywhere. Just about any job other than a desk job now seems to require them. All we need is some stupid case such as this to win damages, and employers will require everyone to wear them when travelling on company business. Estate agents will love that!
In the last year I've noticed that some of the local schools seem to be making the children wear them when they are playing INSIDE the school grounds.
It's bonkers. I bet there's a perfect intersection of people who demand cyclists wear hi-viz vests and those who use the expression "health and safety gone mad".
Mr Loophole. Great name for a dodgy lawyer with no morals or integrity. The fact that he's proud of it says it all.
Better Call Saul!
This is where those in Salford might ask whether the Council has carried out a Section 39 investigation into this fatal crash, and, under FoI will make all details of the causal factors and objective measurements taken, available for public scrutiny.
A thorough and objective investigation would provide details on speeds, sighting distances, light levels, the degree of functionality of the vehicle lights, and which lights were in use, etc. Just take a look at how a rail or air crash is investigated, and action taken, and realise why we see so few deaths for rail and air travel but so many on our roads.
This is where those in Salford might ask whether the Council has carried out a Section 39 investigation into this fatal crash, and, under FoI will make all details of the causal factors and objective measurements taken, available for public scrutiny.
A thorough and objective investigation would provide details on speeds, sighting distances, light levels, the degree of functionality of the vehicle lights, and which lights were in use, etc. Just take a look at how a rail or air crash is investigated, and action taken, and realise why we see so few deaths for rail and air travel but so many on our roads.
Leicester Road, Salford is a quiet residential street. I can bet that driver was going too fast for the conditions.
I am amazed Mr Loophole has yet again deflected responsibility for this tragedy.
God, i hate that man with a passion, he such a *uckwit and his latest comments show that in full.
I would love to catch him driving and tear his car apart till i found an offence.....
How does one carelessly drive a rabbi?
Without jew care and attention?
*sorry*
Extremely poor taste - the poor man died. Have some respect.
How about all cars are hi viz too, they're quite good at bumping into one another as well as bikes and pedestrians.
It is a perfectly reasonable request, look at all trains, the front and back of all mainline loco's are hi-viz, and as an aside i believe all rail side workers are banned from wearing yellow hi-viz, it has to be orange.
it seems to be that this article and the express one were generated to cause trouble.
I dont agree with any of it but i dont know anything of how the car driver was driving from the article just some idiot making ott comments at cyclists
I apologise in advance for the need for my comment to be deleted, but what a grade-A cunt.
Dear Mr Loophole,
Your client was responsible for driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions such that he could stop within the distance he could see. He was also responsible for ensuring that his screen was clear and wipers working properly.
Following the hearing Mr Freeman should have said "had Mr. Martins been driving correctly this tragic collision would not have occurred"
So it seems Mr. Loophole you very clever but you are also a prat, and an immoral one at that!
Shay
Dear Mr Loophole,
Your client was responsible for driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions such that he could stop within the distance he could see. He was also responsible for ensuring that his screen was clear and wipers working properly.
Following the hearing Mr Freeman should have said "had Mr. Martins been driving correctly this tragic collision would not have occurred"
So it seems Mr. Loophole you very clever but you are also a prat, and an immoral one at that!
Shay
Dear Mr Loophole,
Your client was responsible for driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions such that he could stop within the distance he could see. He was also responsible for ensuring that his screen was clear and wipers working properly.
Following the hearing Mr Freeman should have said "had Mr. Martins been driving correctly this tragic collision would not have occurred"
So it seems Mr. Loophole you very clever but you are also a prat, and an immoral one at that!
Shay
Does anyone actually know anything about this? The article is actually short on any kind of detail, how was the driver driving? How lit was the road....
I'm not defending but interested to understand more, all seems a little intent on causing trouble from what i've seen
Does anyone actually know anything about this? The article is actually short on any kind of detail, how was the driver driving? How lit was the road....
I'm not defending but interested to understand more, all seems a little intent on causing trouble from what i've seen
Dear Mr Loophole,
Your client was responsible for driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions such that he could stop within the distance he could see. He was also responsible for ensuring that his screen was clear and wipers working properly.
Following the hearing Mr Freeman should have said "had Mr. Martins been driving correctly this tragic collision would not have occurred"
So it seems Mr. Loophole you very clever but you are also a prat, and an immoral one at that!
Shay
Dear Mr Loophole,
Your client was responsible for driving at a speed appropriate to the conditions such that he could stop within the distance he could see. He was also responsible for ensuring that his screen was clear and wipers working properly.
Following the hearing Mr Freeman should have said "had Mr. Martins been driving correctly this tragic collision would not have occurred"
So it seems Mr. Loophole you very clever but you are also a prat, and an immoral one at that!
Shay
Does anyone actually know anything about this? The article is actually short on any kind of detail, how was the driver driving? How lit was the road....
I'm not defending but interested to understand more, all seems a little intent on causing trouble from what i've seen
Sufficient facts are:
Driver pleaded guilty
Pedestrian described as invisible
Condones poor and dark
Plus of course the fact that not even a rabbi dressed in black is invisible to a driver driving at the appropriate speed for the conditions with a clear windscreen, properly working headlights and the necessary quality of eyesight (corrected if appropriate)
Plenty of facts.
The lawyer is simply blaming victims to divert blame away from inadequate driving.
That is pretty much one of his specialities.
Does it matter? It's dark half the time. The idea is to not drive into stuff - even if it's dark, or raining, or sunny, or whatever. It's not like darkness is some freakish anomaly like an undiscovered WWII landmine in the middle of the road, it's something that happens for several hours of every day and for which we ensure cars are equipped with lights by which to see.
Not really but the article had little detail as to if the driver was speeding or driving recklessly. For all i knew, the road may have been heavily treed and with not road lighting when the rabbi suddenly appeared from nowhere OR the driver could've been speeding without care and attention.
Sometimes, just sometimes and i do mean very occasionally, the driver is not to blame, i was wanting to know more detail as without the detail, how can you come to any conclusion.
As it says in the article, the driver pleaded guilty, which should tell you something - especially given the fact his lawyer is a specialist in getting people off the hook.
Nothing appears from nowhere. He was a rabbi, not Dumbledore.
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